A new report from USDA sheds light on chicken and egg production in the U.S. last year. The USDA released its annual Chicken and Eggs Summary this week, which presents data on the number of egg layers, egg production, and the total U.S. chicken inventory as of December 1, 2024. Bernt Nelson, an economist with the American Farm Bureau Federation, says the report gives important insight into the U.S. poultry flock.
While USDA expects a modest increase in the price of broiler chickens, egg prices have taken a much more significant jump.
The biggest factor behind the changes is highly pathogenic avian influenza. However, the current report doesn’t include the birds lost so far in 2025, which means the report doesn’t reflect what consumers are currently seeing at the grocery store.
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