H5N1 Continues to Distort Egg Market

H5N1 continues to spread throughout the nation’s poultry flock, but the pace of spread may be slowing.

Two commercial flocks of poultry were diagnosed with H5N1 avian flu. Both infected flocks were in Ohio and involved 175,000 birds. 

The two confirmed infected sites are a drop from last week’s 16 commercial cases, which forced the destruction of 4.5 million birds.

The Trump Administration announced this week it is planning a new strategy for combating the disease, including enhanced biosecurity measures and limiting the number of birds destroyed on a farm that has a confirmed case of the virus. 

Almost three fourths of the birds culled due to H5N1 since 2022 have been layer hens. Consumer prices for eggs approached an average of $5 dollars this week, and the USDA estimates that prices will rise another 20% percent this year.

The Trump Administration is also scrambling to rehire USDA employees who had been working on the frontlines of the avian flu outbreak who were fired as part of a mass layoff at USDA.  

For Market to Market, I’m Peter Tubbs