Here’s One Reason Why Eggs Are Still Expensive In Iowa

Eggs are still pricey and a new report shows why that might be the case in Iowa.

Unless you're made of money, you likely haven't been feeding the fam 4-egg omelets every morning so far this year. Eggs haven't been on my grocery list for weeks and the high prices have affected most of America.

Bakeries and shoppers alike have been feeling the sting of higher egg prices. I can't even imagine how the Easter Bunny will handle it.

via GIPHY

The New Report About Iowa's Egg Production

KCCI reports that the USDA has released a new report on egg production in Iowa. Compared to January 2022, egg production is down 15%. But Iowa did produce about 1 billion eggs last month, which is up 1% from December. So there's a glimmer of progress.

Why Production Is Down

Remember the bird flu issue? It really impacted Iowa poultry last year. We were the nation's leading egg producer and the bird flu epidemic hit Iowa worse than any other state. Iowa lost millions of chickens to the bird flu.

The new report from the USDA also found that the number of hens laying eggs in Iowa is also down 13% from a year ago.

Relief Might Be On The Way

The good news: we might not have to deal with this for all of 2023. The USDA also thinks that egg prices will drop nearly 30% this year, barring another bird flu outbreak.

So hopefully we can cook more stuff and get more egg protein in our lives later this year.