CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Your next trip to the grocery store just got more expensive thanks to a bird flu outbreak impacting some of America's largest egg producers.
Egg prices are expected to go up again after bird flu was found in chickens at a Texas plant, shortly after officials said the virus was also found in poultry at a facility in Michigan.
The average price for a dozen Grade-A eggs was $3 last month. That's up from $2 last fall. Egg prices hit a record high last January when a carton was nearly $5, and experts say we could inch closer to those prices thanks to the bird flu.
Cal-Maine foods, the country's largest egg producer, said that approximately 1.6 million hens were destroyed after the virus fast found in its Parmer County, Texas, plant. The company said it sells most of its eggs in the Southwestern, Southeastern, Midwestern and mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.
The company said there is no known bird flu risk associated with eggs that are currently in the market and no eggs have been recalled. Other farms across the country are also reporting the virus, with cases being detected in Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota and Texas.
For consumers, the bottom line is simple: if egg producers can't keep up with demand, prices will go up.
Contact Kia Murray at kmurray@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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