The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced a $1 billion initiative to combat the ongoing bird flu epidemic, which has devastated poultry flocks and driven egg prices to record highs. The plan allocates $500 million for biosecurity measures, $400 million for financial relief to farmers, and $100 million for vaccine research and development. This comes as over 35 million birds have been culled in commercial flocks this year alone, contributing to a 53% increase in egg prices since 2024, with further price hikes of up to 41% anticipated.
Key measures include providing free biosecurity audits to farms, compensating farmers for losses, easing regulatory burdens on egg producers, and exploring temporary imports of eggs that meet U.S. safety standards. The USDA also aims to streamline repopulation efforts for affected farms and accelerate vaccine research to reduce reliance on mass culling during outbreaks.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins emphasized that while these steps aim to stabilize the market, significant price reductions may not occur until later in the year. Meanwhile, the soaring cost of eggs has led to unusual market responses, such as single-egg sales in New York City and thefts of large quantities of eggs in Pennsylvania