HARRISBURG, Pa. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” The publicÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s pocketbooks have been hit hard by the skyrocketing cost of eggs in the last few months. Prices have doubled and, in some places, tripled over what they cost a year ago ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” if you can even find them in your local grocery store.
The average cost of a dozen eggs in the United States is over $4.25, more than twice what it was just a year ago. Options such as cage-free eggs or organic go for over $7.
Inflation is a part of the reason, but the agriculture industry says the bigger cause is the outbreak of the avian flu here in the U.S. a year ago; nationwide, it has affected nearly 60 million birds ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” nearly 5 million of them here in Pennsylvania.
American consumers love their eggs. The food staple is highly regarded by every walk of life for its simplicity and accessibility; for some families, it is their major source of protein.
For others, it is the most important ingredient in baking and the central element in preparing casseroles, pasta and numerous other dishes.
For many of us, it is hard to make a meal without an egg, so of course consumers are deeply affected by this. However, there is another side of that story that we are not examining.
That is the equally devastating economic impact this is having on American poultry farmers and all of those who work with them. Their lives, livelihoods and family legacies have been upended and even destroyed by the avian flu, a worldwide outbreak that shows no signs of subsiding.
Stopping the spread of avian flu is like chasing a ghost. The virus spreads easily through wild birds ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” in particular migratory birds that fly across the country, spreading it along the way with droppings that infect farm animals.
Farmers have to take drastic measures. Any interaction with the public is risky. And if even one bird is infected within a six-mile radius of where an outbreak has occurred, the consequences can be devastating.
Chris Pierce, a member of a multiple-generation poultry farm family and president of the poultry management group Heritage Poultry in Annville, said he works with 120 poultry farms in Pennsylvania with management services that provide veterinarian nutritionists to assist the health and productivity of the farmerÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s flocks that they service.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œThe biosecurity measures all of the farmers infected or not, like not having visitors on your properties ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” covering your workers from head to toe in bio suits and constantly and meticulously disinfecting equipment, clothing, buildings, walls, tires ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” is expensive and mind-numbing,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ he said. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œEven the simplest thing such as a fertilizer truck or a delivery from UPS or Amazon or your childrenÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s school bus can track the disease onto a farm and destroy their flocks, their income and their familyÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s legacy.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œWeÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ve lost two of our family farms out of the 120 with the avian influenza in April of 2022,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ he said. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œIf you are an area poultry farmer, your focus is on keeping birds healthy and caring for them because the birds cannot care for themselves. So that involves making sure all of the equipment in the barns, the feeders, the water system, the ventilation, the lighting systems is all safe because as an egg farmer, your No. 1 priority is the health and safety of your birds. ItÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s your income.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥
Pierce says those are the things a poultry farmer can control. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œWhen a disease you cannot control hits your farm, like the avian influenza, that can happen when there are 30,000 snow geese flying over your farm that have feces coming out.
ThatÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s when the uncertainty starts to unravel their lives and livelihoods,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ he said.
Pierce also points to neighborsÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ bird feeders and bird baths or homesteaders or families who purchase chickens to save money who donÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t take the same stringent precautions as farmers do. These can inadvertently become a spreading source of the avian flu.
Pierce said having to isolate from everyone has devastated many of these farmers who rely on community and social gatherings such as church services, school functions and festivals as part of their emotional well-being.
The measures these farmers take are so drastic that many of them refuse to leave their farms for fear of picking up a particle on the tread of their tires or their shoes and then bringing it back to their farms and infecting their flocks.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œThen there is this constant fear and really a sense of hopelessness that despite all of the precautions, all of the economic and emotional toll, all of the hardships that this epidemic has had on poultry farmers, even more birds are going to die this upcoming season,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Pierce said.
