Egg prices easing now

Egg prices in the United States have fallen sharply this spring as supply recovered from last year’s bird flu disruption and wholesale markets turned lower. (ams.usda.gov) The United States Department of Agriculture said on April 10 that wholesale prices for loose, white Large shell eggs fell to $0.21 a dozen in national truckload trading, down $0.25 in a week. New York formula-priced Large cartoned eggs delivered to retailers fell to $0.65 a dozen, and the California benchmark dropped to $1.22. (ams.usda.gov) Retail prices have followed with a lag. The Bureau of Labor Statistics said the U.S. city average price for a dozen Grade A large eggs was $2.348 in March 2026, and its March consumer price index report said the egg index fell 3.4 percent from February. (fred.stlouisfed.org) (bls.gov) The swing reflects a market that looks very different from 2025, when highly pathogenic avian influenza killed laying flocks and squeezed supply. The Agriculture Department said this week that shell egg supplies are now “moderate to heavy” and demand is “light,” with trading “mostly slow.” (ams.usda.gov) Inventories have been rebuilding after the Easter and Passover push. The Agriculture Department said shell eggs available for marketing rose just over 7.5 percent at the start of the week, national inventories of Large eggs rose 13 percent, and Midwest Large-egg inventories jumped 42.5 percent as retail movement slowed. (ams.usda.gov) Bird flu has not disappeared. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on March 6 that H5 bird flu remains widespread in wild birds and is still causing outbreaks in poultry and dairy cattle, though it said the current public health risk is low and there is no known person-to-person spread. (cdc.gov) The Agriculture Department’s egg market report said that, in 2026 so far, outbreaks in commercial table-egg layer flocks led to the depopulation of 15.2 million birds across 23 confirmed outbreaks in five states. Even with those losses, the same report said no new outbreaks were reported in the latest week. (ams.usda.gov) Federal food economists have already logged eggs among the grocery categories with the biggest recent declines. The United States Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service said on March 25 that egg prices were one of three food-at-home categories posting a monthly drop of at least 1 percent in February 2026. (ers.usda.gov) For shoppers, that means the egg aisle is moving back toward normal after a year of shortages, sticker shock, and holiday rationing. For producers and grocers, the next test is whether calmer demand and steadier flocks keep prices from spiking again. (ams.usda.gov)