Many families that have had to adjust their budgets in response to inflation are hoping that the new year will bring lower costs, especially since the cost of chicken and eggs are the highest they’ve ever been.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the cost of eggs jumped 49% since this time in 2021, something that has destroyed the wallets of Utah shoppers living on a budget. Fortunately, the Bureau says that the average price of chicken is starting to drop at a very slow pace. Regardless, this is the first time the cost of chicken has decreased since July 2021.
Bailee Woolstenhulme with the state Department of Agriculture and Food says that the recent increase in egg costs have partly been a result of 2022’s avian flu outbreak. She says that in Utah alone, over a million chickens have had to be depopulated due to the flu. However, winter stalled the outbreak and no new cases have been reported since November.
The last time egg prices jumped this high was in 2015 when there was another avian flu outbreak. Many farmers are concerned that even if the cases are slowly dropping, there’s potential for a second wave that could come in the new year.
