USDA predicts price of eggs will rise this year. Here's what they say they're doing.

SILVER SPRING, Md. - There’s a new plan to bring down the cost of key grocery items like eggs but there is some doubt about how quickly it’ll work.

Concern about the price of eggs was a near-constant talking point throughout 2024 and it’s only ramping up in 2025 — especially following a prediction from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, saying that the current record prices for eggs are going to get much worse this year.

FOX 5 spoke with shoppers in Silver Spring on Wednesday and they had a lot to say about prices like these.

"It’s ridiculous. It’s like $10, $12 for a dozen eggs," one woman said. 

The USDA estimate is concerning for many Americans already struggling when they hit the store. The agency estimates that egg prices will soar more than 41% this year on top of the record average price of $4.95 per dozen. That means egg prices could top out at an average of nearly $7 per dozen. 

Why are prices rising? 

What we know:

The bird flu outbreak is having a significant impact on the price of eggs. 

The outbreak began in 2022 and has led to the slaughter of 166 million birds across the country to help control the virus. Most of the birds killed have been egg-laying chickens. 

January was the worst yet for egg farmers with nearly 19 million egg-laying chickens slaughtered.

What they plan to do

But amid the worrying report, the USDA says they have a plan. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins presented the agency’s five-pronged strategy, which includes: 

• $500 million to help farmers bolster biosecurity measures
• $400 million in additional aid for impacted farmers
• $100 million to research and potentially develop vaccines
• Federal action to reduce regulations
• Options to temporarily increase egg imports and decrease egg exports.

How long before prices drop? 

What they're saying:

"The American taxpayers, American consumers, and American poultry farmers have relief coming right around the corner," Rollins said. 

But one expert who spoke with FOX 5 says he isn’t so sure.

"Some of the investments in things like paying back farmers or the biosecurity stuff or the investing in vaccines, those are things that are going to take a little bit of time to actually play out," said Jadrian Wooten, an Associate Professor in Virginia Tech's Department of Economics.

Wooten says the egg imports could potentially help in the next two or three weeks but otherwise, "I think this is something that we’ll see benefits on months from now or sort of the next wave of avian flu. I don’t think it’s something that’s necessarily going to help people tomorrow, next week or the week after that."

One shopper told FOX 5 that he hasn’t had to cut back yet but, "if it [price] goes up any further, I probably will."