Eggs are a helpful barometer of food inflation and with current high egg prices, eggs were a major talking point at the annual USDA Ag Outlook Forum. Consumers and politicians are paying close attention to the situation with bird flu outbreaks consistently causing problems for the egg industry.
USDA Chief Economist Seth Meyer says he had to include eggs in his yearly presentation at Ag Outlook, with some prices topping seven dollars a dozen.
The U.S. flock has been greatly reduced in size.
The reduced flock size has led to increased egg prices and Meyer says that has played a big role in food price inflation.
Since USDA’s February forecast, Meyer says the U.S. has lost nearly another seven-and-a-half million-layer birds but can only add back four-to-six million a month.
Meyer says egg prices will stay high for at least a “little while longer.”
