JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — There’s no sunny side to the rising cost of eggs. A bird flu outbreak has forced farmers to lose millions of hens since December, putting a crack in the egg supply.
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<< The average price per dozen nationwide hit $4.15 in December. That’s not quite as high as the $4.82 record set two years ago, but the U.S. Department of Agriculture predicts prices are going to soar another 20% this year.
RELATED: Egg prices are soaring. Don’t expect that to change anytime soon Action News Jax spoke with Jacques Klempf, the former owner of Dixie Egg Company in Jacksonville. He knows firsthand the impact the bird flu can have on a farm.
[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] “This bird flu has been devastating for the farms,” Klempf said. “When the bird flu strikes their farm, you know all the birds have to be euthanized, and they go from having revenue to zero.”
RELATED: Waffle House adds 50 cent egg surcharge as prices soar amid bird flu crisis Klempf said it’s not just consumers affected by the bird flu. “Farms that got 100 employees, 200 employee,s and they have to let them go for a period of time because they can’t afford to pay them,” Klempf said.
[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter] Now there is relief in sight, but it may take a while to get there. Klempf expects to see higher egg prices for the rest of the year. “Those barns will fill back up, and we will overproduce eggs, and the prices will come way down, but it’s probably going to be toward the end of the year,” Klempf said.
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