SALEM, Ohio — Egg prices have fallen in the United States, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture is taking credit. Wholesale egg prices have dropped nearly 50% since Feb. 26, when USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins announced her $1 billion five-pronged plan to combat the H5N1 bird flu and reduce egg prices.
The plan included increasing financial relief for farmers whose flocks were depopulated, exploring poultry vaccine options and helping farmers beef up biosecurity. The USDA also increased egg imports from Turkey and South Korea, and Rollins said discussions are ongoing with other countries to “expand supply in the short term.”
The New York wholesale egg price, which peaked at $8.53 per dozen, has declined to $4.08 as of March 19.
“The downward trend underscores the effectiveness of USDA’s approach,” according to a March 19 USDA press release.
Demand for eggs dropped precipitously after market prices spiked, but the downward slide seems to have halted for now, according to the USDA’s March 21 Egg Markets report.
“Consumers are slowly beginning to see downward price adjustments and increasing availability in the dairycase and just in time as the market is on the cusp of the Easter and Passover demand season,” the report said.
Bird flu impact
Outbreaks of bird flu in egg-laying flocks have slowed, with the last outbreak confirmed March 4 in an Indiana flock of 187,200. This, too, is helping lower egg prices. So far in 2025, bird flu outbreaks in commercial egg-laying flocks have resulted in the depopulation of more than 30 million birds, with Ohio being the hardest hit, accounting for 13.3 million birds, or 44% of egg layer losses due to bird flu this year. Pennsylvania has lost just over 2 million egg-laying chickens to bird flu in 2025.
Overall, Ohio producers have lost more than 14 million birds on 73 farms to bird flu this year. The last confirmed detection was on March 6.
The Ohio Department of Agriculture recently issued a temporary bird movement ban on non-commercial premises in 13 western Ohio counties to contain the spread of the bird flu. The affected counties are Darke, Mercer, Van Wert, Auglaize, Paulding, Putnam, Allen, Hardin, Logan, Shelby, Miami, Montgomery and Preble. The ban went into effect March 17 and will remain until May 15.
This restriction applies to poultry, wild game birds, fancy poultry species and exotic species at public and private events like exhibitions, auctions, swap meets, flea markets and livestock markets.
The proclamation, signed by ODA Director Brian Baldridge, says it’s a necessary move to “protect Ohio’s commercial poultry industry which contributes $4.9 billion to the state’s economy and accounts for more than 16,000 jobs.”
More than 168 million birds in all 51 U.S. states and territories have been impacted by bird flu since the H5N1 outbreak began in February 2022.
