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Eggs US – Price – Chart

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Re: Eggs US – Price – Chart

#221

Post by codemac »

SketchySeaBeast wrote: post #110
afavour wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is also a great defense against something like bird flu. When you centralize operations a disease can spread through a population like wildfire. When it's a number of smaller, separate operations the impact is lessened.

Really raises the question - should vital infrastructure, like food production, be built in an attempt to maximize profit or resiliency? Have things swung too far in one direction?

In many cases maximizing profits increases supply through efficiency, especially in the case of things like food. Increased supply is usually considered a safer place than a lower supply if it's vital.

Every step you take that makes food more expensive, some use cases of food are no longer possible (say, free eggs in all elementary schools or something).

How many of these uses are we ok eliminating so the wealthier population has a more consistent/resilient supply?

Re: Eggs US – Price – Chart

#222

Post by ars »

zo1 wrote: post #97
jeffbee wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Eggs store pretty poorly in the fridge because liquids transpire through the shell. Within a month your egg will be 20% air.

This is disturbing and not what I found with eggs at all - Are eggs somehow different in the US compared to the rest of the world?

It's also not true. You can keep US eggs out of the fridge with zero problems, and they do not "transpire" in a month, that's simply not true. I keep my US eggs for months at a time, out of the fridge, with zero problems.

The whole washing thing causing problems, that multiple people have replied is a myth. They spray the eggs with mineral oil afterward which works just as well. There's nothing magical about the natural coating, it's just oil.

Re: Eggs US – Price – Chart

#224

Post by ars »

wongarsu wrote: post #156
zo1 wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is disturbing and not what I found with eggs at all - Are eggs somehow different in the US compared to the rest of the world?

Yes. In the US eggs are washed with soap and hot water after being laid. Most of the rest of the world doesn't do that. We simply arrange things so eggs don't lie in poop, then deliver them to the customer unwashed. Both methods work, but the washing process removes a protective layer from the eggs, causing them to require refrigeration and generally last not as long

US eggs last exactly the same amount of time, and they do not actually require refrigeration, it's basically a custom at this point that customers expect.

Re: Eggs US – Price – Chart

#225

Post by anthonybsd »

simple10 wrote: post #5

I live in CA and saw a massive jump in prices when the state ordered chickens to be euthanized due to bird flu. It was also the first time I saw grocery store shelves completely empty of eggs for days at a time. Prices for organic eggs have somewhat returned to pre-bird flu levels but the regular sales and discounts have stopped. Non-organic eggs are still significantly higher.

I am in NJ and shelves are not empty here but the prices are off the charts. In December I bought eggs in Stop and Shop for $3.19 for a dozen of large brown eggs. Yesterday I bought the same eggs for $9.75 each.

Re: Eggs US – Price – Chart

#226

Post by joe8756438 »

I’ve got a flock, not counting infrastructure my costs are tied directly to feed. I source local non-gmo and herbicide free grains. My cost is about $3/doz. It’s unusual to be so close to a farm that produces the variety of grain at that level of quality.

A local farm that produces on a large scale and sources grain from the same farm charges $8/doz. Seems totally fair, if not a little too cheap.

Re: Eggs US – Price – Chart

#227

Post by Symbiote »

azinman2 wrote: post #140
mrweasel wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That makes a lot of sense, because I lookup up how we handle it in Denmark and it's the same, destroy the entire flock if a farm is infected. It's just it's not millions, it's 6000, 40.000, 20.000 chickens per farm, not a million. Weird that the size of the farms aren't being regulated if you know from other countries that it makes containment easier.

But the population is about 57x smaller. So 17.5k chickens would be equivalent in terms of impact.

Are eggs regularly transported long distances in the USA? I don't think I've seen eggs from outside Denmark for sale in Denmark, though many other things (cheese, meat) are.

If people in Minnesota (same population) aren't regularly buying eggs from out of state, then the comparison with Denmark holds.

Re: Eggs US – Price – Chart

#228

Post by silisili »

mplanchard wrote: post #18

Fresh, local eggs have remained around the same price here. While more expensive than eggs from large producers in normal times, they are now often cheaper. This is a great reminder of how important it is to support local farmers and small operations, which increase the resilience of the system as a whole.

My local sellers are $4/doz for the good ones, $5/18 from another seller whose eggs taste 'off' so I quit buying them. I think $4/doz for quality eggs is worth it.

This is also hopefully a catalyst to get people to petition their city for backyard chicken rights. Raising chickens is relatively easy and can be rewarding. Even if you don't want to personally, support the right of those around you to, please.

Re: Eggs US – Price – Chart

#229

Post by oceanplexian »

afavour wrote: post #84
mplanchard wrote: post #18

Fresh, local eggs have remained around the same price here. While more expensive than eggs from large producers in normal times, they are now often cheaper. This is a great reminder of how important it is to support local farmers and small operations, which increase the resilience of the system as a whole.

This is also a great defense against something like bird flu. When you centralize operations a disease can spread through a population like wildfire. When it's a number of smaller, separate operations the impact is lessened.

Actually the inconvenient truth is that it's not.

Free range birds are able to interact and spread the disease more easily than the caged birds which can be quarantined. At least in my location all the cage free inventory is totally wiped out.

Re: Eggs US – Price – Chart

#230

Post by mplanchard »

jl6 wrote: post #172
mplanchard wrote: post #18

Fresh, local eggs have remained around the same price here. While more expensive than eggs from large producers in normal times, they are now often cheaper. This is a great reminder of how important it is to support local farmers and small operations, which increase the resilience of the system as a whole.

Are small local farms able to keep producing as normal because the birds aren’t getting bird flu or because they’re not testing/killing them?

The local farms here at least are being really cautious about testing and isolation. Many of them sell their eggs to the local grocery stores, so they are bound to the same standards as other eggs.

I don’t see what benefit they would gain by not testing, anyway: if their flock is infected and a significant portion of the birds die, they are going to lose revenue the same way a massive egg producer would. If anything, I’d imagine them to want to be more cautious, since they have fewer eggs in their basket as it were (fewer total chickens).

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