
Shell Shock! How Much Higher Montana Egg Prices Might Go in 2025
From a dozen at the grocery store to your favorite restaurant omelet, be ready for even more stunning increases.
The Northern Ag News Network tells us that Montanans and most all Americans can continue to expect high prices for eggs this year, new estimates show, due to the ongoing avian flu outbreak and inflation.
Egg prices are estimated to increase about 20% in 2025. That compares to about 2.2% for food prices in general, according to the US Department of Agriculture. Beef, coffee and orange juice are among groceries with higher prices, but eggs are uniquely impacted by the avian flu strain, which is decimating supplies.
While some states escaped last year’s avian flu outbreaks, there is a reported resurgence. The virus killed about 17.2 million egg-laying hens in November and December. That’s nearly half of all birds killed by the virus for the entire year.
The average price of a dozen large, grade-A eggs was $4.15 in December, up from $3.65 in November, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Egg prices were also up more than 36% year-over-year in December, according to the Consumer Price Index.
Northern Ag quotes sources as saying that there have been more than 20 consecutive months of record-high demand. And that demand typically increases due to the holidays, contributing even more to the rising cost of eggs. That's led to some grocers putting limits on how many eggs a shopper can buy on one trip.
As long as the avian flu persists, so will high prices. There are currently significant outbreaks in California, Indiana, Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio. About 8.3 million birds have died in January because of those outbreaks, according to the USDA.
You've no doubt noticed the big increases at your preferred Montana grocery stores, and some parts of the country and getting hammered even worse. In New York, the wholesale price of large-carton eggs rose to $7.24 per dozen, while in the Midwest it increased to $6.84.
And guess who those price increases are being passed down to?
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