Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins has hit the ground running with a five-pronged strategy to combat the inflated price of eggs.
Many families are experiencing high egg prices ranging from $6 to $10 or even more. This spike in prices is largely a result of the ongoing outbreaks of severe avian influenza, which have greatly impacted American poultry farmers and drastically reduced the egg supply in the last couple of years.
While the Biden administration has not taken significant steps to tackle the recurring outbreaks and resulting high egg costs, the Trump administration is approaching the issue with more seriousness. As a response, a comprehensive strategy to combat avian influenza is being introduced.
Rollins is set to invest $1 billion to address this issue with the aim of eventually lowering egg prices. Additionally, Rollins is collaborating with DOGE to identify and eliminate unnecessary expenses within the Department of Agriculture. Their goal is to redirect these funds towards sustainable solutions for combating avian flu. Since 2022, the Biden administration has removed 166 million laying hens as a measure to combat the virus.
Rollins outlined her strategy thusly:
1. Biodiversity and Biosecurity Measures
Rollins plans to allot up to $500 million to assist U.S. poultry producers in implementing gold-standard biosecurity measures.
2. Financial Relief to Affected Farmers
The USDA will increase to $400 million the financial relief to farmers whose flocks have been affected by avian flu. Rollins also plans to cut through the red tape so that farmers can receive faster approval to remount their laying operations once an outbreak is quelled.
.@SecRollins discusses USDA’s commitment to investing in biosecurity, repopulating chicken farms, and cutting burdensome regulations to combat the effects of avian flu:
“American taxpayers, American consumers, and American poultry farmers have relief coming.” pic.twitter.com/c4rHMNXgGb
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) February 26, 2025
3. Vaccines and Therapeutics for Laying Chickens
The USDA plans to provide up to $100 million in research and development of vaccines and therapeutics.
4. Targeted Actions to Lower Egg Prices
These actions include removing unnecessary federal and state regulation where possible which limits the production of egg farmers, and making it easier for families to raise their own laying chickens. Many municipalities, even rural ones, refuse to allow families to have their own hens, which would not only allow families to feed themselves, but would allow them to share and sell their produce. I pay $3.00 for a dozen eggs because I buy them from a private farm instead of a food retailer.
5. Import Eggs from Other Countries
Finally, we will consider temporary import options to reduce egg costs in the short term. We will proceed with imports only if the eggs meet stringent U.S. safety standards and if we determine that doing so won’t jeopardize American farmers’ access to markets in the future.
Among the five options, this is the least attractive and could create a domino effect that would further hamper small and local farmers.
In terms of flu resistance, regenerative Farmer Joel Salatin has an even better solution: breed avian-flu resistant birds, which would ultimately eliminate the need for vaccines.
But the very fact that action is being taken and solutions being offered to combat the egg crisis gives hope that the new USDA is forging different pathways that benefit the American farmer and the American consumer.
Rollins appeared on America’s Newsroom on Wednesday to discuss her five-pronged strategy.
WATCH:
NEW: USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins tackling a new approach to bird flu & the rising price of eggs. pic.twitter.com/Ejh6EVWz7Z
— America’s Newsroom (@AmericaNewsroom) February 26, 2025
