US will spend $1 bln to overcome the egg shortage

On February 26, the US Department of Agriculture announced a billion dollars in funding to combat the shortage of chicken eggs, which has seen prices for the popular product rise by an average of more than 50% over the course of the year.

The main reason for the shortage was the bird flu epidemic that began on American poultry farms in early 2022. Due to the US ban on the use of foreign vaccines, the only way to combat it is to destroy the livestock in case of even a single infection on the farm.

500 million dollars of the allocated amount are earmarked for infection prevention measures. Farmers will receive $400 million in compensation, and $100 million will be spent on research related to the bird flu vaccine. The Ministry also plans to massively import chicken eggs from abroad. The US, according to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, is negotiating with several countries to secure emergency egg imports as a temporary measure to meet domestic demand.

The sharp rise in egg prices is turning into a political problem for the Donald Trump administration. On February 26, the US president made it clear that solving it was a priority for him. “Eggs are a disaster,” Trump said at the first meeting of his cabinet.

The Minister of Agriculture does not expect egg prices to fall for several months. “I’m reaching out to every family that is having trouble buying eggs: we hear you, we’re fighting for you, we’re organizing help,” Brooke Rollins said in a statement.

Tags: USA, eggs