U.S. considers increasing egg imports amid skyrocketing prices

The U.S. will look to import more eggs as it responds to an ongoing outbreak of bird flu that has egg prices surging more than 50% from a year ago.

The federal government plans to purchase eggs from other nations as part of a five-pronged strategy backed by $1 billion to combatting a strain of avian influenza that hit in late 2021, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Wednesday. The plan includes another $500 million for biosecurity measures, $400 million in relief for impacted farmers and $100 million for vaccine research, the USDA said.

The nation is not prepared to vaccinate birds, but will increase research into immunization and ease regulations to reduce costs, the agency said. Million of birds have been culled since December amid infections among egg-laying hens from California to Iowa, causing grocery stores to limit purchases and breakfast chains including Waffle House and Denny’s to add surcharges to orders with eggs. 

The price of eggs jumped 15% last month and are up 53% year-over-year, according to January’s Consumer Price Index. 

The administration is also in talks to import about 70 million to 100 million eggs from other countries in the coming months, according to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said. But the tallies are a drop in the bucket compared with the nearly 8 billion eggs produced in the U.S. in January alone, down 4% from a year ago, according to the USDA.

“We will consider temporary import options to reduce egg costs in the short term,” Rollins wrote in an opinion piece published Wednesday in the Wall Street Journal. She did not state which countries would provide egg imports, however, Turkey plans to export 420 million eggs to the U.S. this year, according to the Egg Producers Central Union in Turkey. 

“To every family struggling buy eggs: We hear you, we’re fighting for you, and help is on the way,” Rollins said in a statement on Wednesday.