Bonita Springs farmer explains why egg prices are so high

Forget diamonds, flowers, or chocolate: This Valentine’s Day, show your loved one you care with eggs. New numbers out Monday show the kitchen staple went up 70.1% in January 2023 compared to the year before. Why are prices so high?

Nicole Cruz owns Circle C Farm in Bonita Springs, along with 4,000 laying hens, which could mean about 4,000 eggs daily. She said it isn’t just the avian flu causing the higher egg prices; it’s everything they need to buy as farmers causing a little increase in the prices too.

“There’s a whole gamut of expenses that have gone up, whether it’s feed, labor, transportation, the cost of the chick to begin… with all of those play into the increase and the rise of the cost of eggs,” Cruz said.

While the bird flu hurt a lot of farms across the country, Cruz says they didn’t have a single case at Circle C Farm. She believes some companies use it as a way to make more money.

“I really do think that there’s some things there that are being increased because it’s opportunistic, I really do,” Cruz said.

She says more people are getting chickens to try and save money on eggs, and they’re even turning to her.

“People are calling and saying, ‘Hey, can I buy live chickens?'” Cruz said. “I’m getting messages through social media, we’re getting emails, you know, ‘Where can I get these?’ You know, ‘Do you sell live?’ And we’re like, ‘Nope, we only sell our meats and our eggs.'”

Cruz thinks you won’t be paying as much for eggs for much longer, though.

WINK News has been tracking the prices of eggs here in Southwest Florida, you can see the changes in price for 18 eggs below.

TARGET:
February 2022: $2.79
January 2023: $4.39
February 2023: $6.39

WALMART:
February 2022: $2.82
January 2023: $6.65
February 2023: $4.58

PUBLIX:
February 2022: $4.49
January 2023: $8.40
February 2023: $7.33

You can find the 12-month percent change in the price of eggs nationally by clicking here. You can also find a more detailed breakdown of consumer pricing for eggs and several other products by clicking here.