(Zero Hedge)—An ongoing and devastating avian influenza outbreak has severely dented the nation’s egg-producing hen population, driving wholesale prices into record-high territory and far surpassing the price explosion seen a few years ago when the bird flu first emerged. This is an alarming trend, and egg prices at the supermarket will likely rise further in the weeks and months ahead.
The latest wholesale data from Urner Barry shows that the price for a dozen eggs has jumped to a record high of $5.4, exceeding the previous peak of $4.65 set in December 2022. Rising wholesale prices are expected to continue pressuring supermarket prices higher.
According to the USDA’s bird flu dashboard, 15.5 million birds across the Lower 48 have been infected by avian influenza over the last 30 days.
About 20 million egg-laying hens died in the fourth quarter of 2024 because of the escalating health crisis, denting the nation’s egg-laying population.
“Unlike in past years, in 2024, all major production systems experienced significant losses, including conventional caged, cage-free, and certified organic types,” USDA wrote in a report earlier this month.
The end result is this:
Well, the egg shortage is definitely real. pic.twitter.com/rI9kRqVGRR
— Brad Stephenson (@Shuttlecock) January 23, 2025
Egg update pic.twitter.com/A6P7efjpka
— Matthew Zeitlin (@MattZeitlin) January 22, 2025
tf is this shit at my grocery store? egg shortage? for real? pic.twitter.com/2Jri48UQv7
— Chaos In Roswell (@ChaosInRoswell) January 22, 2025
Apparently there’s an egg shortage now.. $10 a dozen and limits 😭 wtf man pic.twitter.com/Q66k0csxrq
— Tazz (@bitcointazz) January 22, 2025
Readers may want to consider building or purchasing chicken coops to secure their own egg supply, as shortages are expected to persist. Additionally, a growing trend among some Americans involves sourcing clean food from mom-and-pop farms or utilizing their own land for food production. It may be time for folks to shift away from toxic food supply chains controlled by mega-corporations.
Independent Journalism Is Dying
Ever since President Trump’s miraculous victory, we’ve heard an incessant drumbeat about how legacy media is dying. This is true. The people have awakened to the reality that they’re being lied to by the self-proclaimed “Arbiters of Truth” for the sake of political expediency, corporate self-protection, and globalist ambitions.
But even as independent journalism rises to fill the void left by legacy media, there is still a huge challenge. Those at the top of independent media like Joe Rogan, Dan Bongino, and Tucker Carlson are thriving and rightly so. They have earned their audience and the financial rewards that come from it. They’ve taken risks and worked hard to get to where they are.
For “the rest of us,” legacy media and their proxies are making it exceptionally difficult to survive, let alone thrive. They still have a stranglehold over the “fact checkers” who have a dramatic impact on readership and viewership. YouTube, Facebook, and Google still stifle us. The freer speech platforms like Rumble and 𝕏 can only reward so many of their popular content creators. For independent journalists on the outside looking in, our only recourse is to rely on affiliates and sponsors.
But even as it seems nearly impossible to make a living, there are blessings that should not be disregarded. By highlighting strong sponsors who share our America First worldview, we have been able to make lifelong connections and even a bit of revenue to help us along. This is why we enjoy symbiotic relationships with companies like MyPillow, Jase Medical, and Promised Grounds. We help them with our recommendations and they reward us with money when our audience buys from them.
The same can be said about our preparedness sponsor, Prepper All-Naturals. Their long-term storage beef has a 25-year shelf life and is made with one ingredient: All-American Beef.
Even our faith-driven precious metals sponsor helps us tremendously while also helping Americans protect their life’s savings. We are blessed to work with them.
Independent media is the future. In many ways, that future is already here. While the phrase, “the more the merrier,” does not apply to this business because there are still some bad actors in the independent media field, there are many great ones that do not get nearly enough attention. We hope to change that one content creator at a time.
Thank you and God Bless,
JD Rucker
