As Americans consider getting backyard chickens amidst a surge in egg prices, President Donald Trump’s new administration said this week it would spend $1 billion to bring those prices down.
“U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins today announced a $1 billion-dollar comprehensive strategy to curb highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), protect the U.S. poultry industry, and lower egg prices,” said the department in a Wednesday press release. “This is in addition to funding already being provided to indemnify growers for depopulated flocks.”
Avian flu has been contributing to regular spikes in egg prices for years, at the same time that consumers felt pressure from overall inflation in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, skyrocketing egg prices have caused bodegas to sell single eggs and thieves have even targeted a restaurant to steal their eggs.
A recent outlook from the USDA indicated that egg prices could increase by 41% by the end of the year.
Recently, Democratic lawmakers, including Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), have pointed at the new Republican administration’s policies as the reason for the rise in egg prices, according to The New York Times. Meanwhile, Rollins laid blame at the feet of the previous administration, led by Democratic former President Joe Biden.
“The Biden administration did little to address the repeated outbreaks and high egg prices that followed. By contrast, the Trump administration is taking the issue seriously,” she wrote. “American farmers need relief, and American consumers need affordable food. To every family struggling to buy eggs: We hear you, we’re fighting for you, and help is on the way.”
Rollins – former president and CEO of the America First Policy Institute – wrote about the five-point strategy in an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal and discussed it with Fox News. Most of the investment, $500 million will go towards biosecurity measures, another $400 million will go towards financial relief for farmers and $100 million will go towards vaccine research as well as “action to reduce regulatory burdens,” and exploration of temporary import options.
Biosecurity measures included in the plan are an expansion of the USDA’s Wildlife Biosecurity Assessments beginning with egg-layer facilities. This is intended to safeguard farms from 83% of HPAI cases, those from wild birds. Per the USDA, the approximately 150 facilities that follow these protocols have had only one outbreak.
Additionally, biosecurity audits will be expanded – including the continuation of free biosecurity audits for all HPAI-affected farms. Part of the expansion in assessments and audits will be the deployment of 20 trained epidemiologists “to provide actionable and timely advice to producers on how to reduce HPAI risk at their facilities.”
Once the assessments and audits identify action items, the USDA said it will share up to 75% of costs, up to that previously mentioned $500 million threshold.
Next, is the $400 million for financial relief of farmers and to accelerate population of flocks where it has declined. The USDA said “new programs are being explored,” to achieve this goal in speedier and simpler ways.
It is also working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to look at new strategies to safely expand supply in the commercial market for eggs. It also plans to “minimize burdens on individual farmers and consumers who harvest homegrown eggs,” and work with scientists to develop innovative strategies for dealing with the problem.
“USDA will educate consumers and Congress on the need to fix the problem of geographical price differences for eggs, such as in California, where recent regulatory burdens, in addition to avian flu, have resulted in the price of eggs being 60% higher than other regions of the country,” said the department.
As far as vaccines go, the USDA is ready to spend up to $100 million “on a targeted and thoughtful strategy for potential new generation vaccines, therapeutics, and other innovative solutions to minimize depopulation of egg laying chickens,” as well as “increased bio-surveillance and other innovative solutions.”
This part of the project will involve the USDA working with “trading partners to limit impacts to export trade markets from potential vaccination,” and working with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, led by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Public input will also be part of the process, including feedback from governors, state agencies, veterinarians, and farmers.
“USDA will immediately begin holding biweekly discussions on this and will also brief the public on its progress biweekly until further notice,” said the department.
Finally, the USDA will consider temporarily increasing egg imports and decreasing exports to bolster domestic supply. It will also evaluate international best practices to see if there are further opportunities to increase supply.
News of this investment into bringing egg prices down comes as the Trump administration makes headlines for its efforts to slash government spending elsewhere.