Egg Prices Are Way Down, but That’s Hurting Farmers

Last year, the phones were ringing off the hook at Stiebrs Farms, a family-owned egg producer at the foot of Mount Rainier in Yelm, Wash.

Avian influenza, or bird flu, was sweeping across the country, slicing deeply into the nation’s egg-laying hen population. Egg prices surged to record highs of more than $8 a dozen, prices desperate buyers were willing to pay.

Since then, wholesale egg prices — prices paid by grocery stores and restaurants — have plunged 93 percent to below 60 cents a dozen. The phones have fallen silent at Stiebrs Farms.

“This is a third-generation farm, and we’d love to see a fourth generation continue with it,” said Sara Stiebrs, who owns the 500,000-hen operation with her husband, Yany. “But how can you be sustainable when prices are below the cost of production?”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/20/business/egg-prices-down.html