Highly Contagious Bird Flu Sweeps The Nation — Poultry Product Costs On The Rise
(FeaturedNews.com) – Avian Influenza, otherwise known as the bird flu, is decimating flocks of poultry and driving up costs for already frustrated consumers. Thirty-two states have confirmed cases of the highly contagious pathogen, resulting in the death or euthanization of millions upon millions of birds. Two hundred eighty commercial and backyard poultry flocks are completely gone resulting in increased costs for poultry products.
Egg market reporter Karyn Rispoli says a full 9% of the industry’s egg-laying hens, about 28 million altogether, have been culled, according to CBS News. While the price of whole chickens hasn’t seen much of a jump — just 5%, as opposed to the 10% most foods have jumped due to inflation — wholesale eggs have nearly tripled in price.
🇺🇸 Bird flu is driving up the price of more than just eggs and poultry https://t.co/iKIMczYkYb
— Neil Saunders (@NeilRetail) May 5, 2022
The USDA noted in a report that the table egg industry is hit hardest by the disease, as demand will rise while supply falls. The egg industry, in general, goes much further than cartons of fresh eggs at the grocery store. The increased cost of breaker eggs, sold by the pound in liquid form for commercial food service, will drive up the price of everything from salad dressings to cake mix.
The bird flu moves from place to place carried by migratory waterfowl such as ducks, geese, and seagulls to flocks of chickens, turkeys, pheasant, domestic ducks, and other commercially-important animals. Once the disease subsides, the poultry shortage should correct itself as farms breed more chickens.
Copyright 2022, FeaturedNews.com
