Why Aren’t Chicken Meat Prices Rising Like Egg Prices?

The U.S. response to a highly pathogenic avian influenza is driving egg prices to record highs. Still, chicken meat prices remain relatively stable because of a significant difference in how the birds are raised and marketed.

Since 2022, the U.S. poultry industry has been heavily affected by its response to an ongoing outbreak of H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). In the 30 days up to Feb. 26, more than 19 million birds had been affected by HPAI outbreaks, according to the Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

The United States’ top egg-producing states—Iowa, Ohio, and Indiana—have lost more than 62 million birds because of culling since the beginning of the outbreak.

The latest Department of Agriculture Egg Markets Overview report, published on Feb. 21, placed the national average wholesale price of eggs at $8.07 per dozen. In some regions of the country, the average was nearly $10 per dozen.

The price of eggs has driven the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to step up its action in response to the crisis. On Feb. 26, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced that the agency would spend as much as $1 billion to boost biosecurity on farms and compensate farmers who lost birds to HPAI. The USDA is also weighing the possibility of using vaccines to control the spread of the disease and taking steps to override state animal welfare laws.