Inflation has strained America’s pockets in the last several weeks, resulting in less spare change and higher grocery bills.
Egg prices have recently been considered the most dramatic price increase since the beginning of 2025. Iowa, for instance, has seen a 153% increase in egg prices by the dozen, the highest of the 50 states.
However, the price increase may not be fundamentally attributed to inflation. The primary cause for the rise in egg prices is the bird flu currently plaguing egg-laying hens across the country.
Avian Influenza, or the bird flu, has seen a rise in cases in the United States in recent weeks. The virus targets flocks of chickens and other poultry and rapidly spreads throughout the population. It’s often found that the pathogen can survive in the saliva, nasal secretions and feces of both domestic and wild birds, being the main means by which the virus spreads.
Specifically, in domesticated birds, the virus has been observed to mutate easily outside the containment of attempted treatments. This has caused the virus to become extremely virulent and lethal. Farmers have found the most viable solution to be slaughtering infected chickens, reducing the number of chickens and the number of eggs produced, thus raising prices.
A Regional Supervisor of Hy Vee, Ben Putnam comments on how the egg-inflation has impacted grocers in the Midwest and what they’re doing to combat that spike, “The recent rise in egg costs has impacted the grocery industry quite a bit. As a Midwest grocery store, we want to do our best to provide quality products at an affordable price. When we see spikes like this, many times stores will sell below cost to try to minimize the impact to customers.”
Many Americans now look to their government for a solution to the issues the virus poses, while others remember President Trump’s promises to lower prices on his first day in office.
According to CNN, prior to his entrance into office, President Trump promised to bring produce prices down immediately, claiming, “When I win, I will immediately bring prices down, starting on Day One.” Since then, America has been faced with the bird flu and prices have continued to skyrocket.
Mason Schaack, a senior at North Scott High School claims that this wasn’t a promise the President should’ve made. “Prior to the devastation of the bird flu, my thoughts on lowering prices were relatively the same as they are now. It’s my basic understanding that prices on our essential goods such as eggs don’t just get lowered because someone says they will. Certainly not on day 1 of a presidential administration.”
So why did the President make such a promise? The answer seems to be to sway voters who blindly believed what he said at the time. Many are now confused as to why Trump’s promise hasn’t been fulfilled which has caused him to receive some backlash in the weeks since his entry into office.
The new tariffs have instead risked increasing prices, particularly with items shipped from Canada and Mexico, two of our most important trade partners. Though, while Trump’s Presidency hasn’t lived up to his promise to lower prices, there is reportedly a plan in place to tackle the bird flu.
Vaccinations are the main focus of the government’s plan. Since the disease is primarily spread among wild birds, domesticated flocks should be safe as long as perimeters are formed and maintained and birds are kept vaccinated. However, many still wonder if it’ll be enough to fulfill the President’s promise.
“There are a variety of factors that impact the prices we face, from corporate companies to supply and demand issues. The economy has to function in a way that it will stay standing, and things like bird flu only make that increasingly difficult. With that and the recent decisions made by our government, I do not trust the promise of lower prices,” Schaack continued.
It’s slowly becoming apparent that not everything that President Trump promised during his campaign will come true. Some things simply aren’t up to him if he wants to maintain a free market, such as the lowering of everyday grocery prices.
With the bird flu and the increase in egg prices that come with that, the American people are reminded not to trust everything that politicians promise them.
