Even though the Trump administration has vowed to spend $1 billion combating bird flu, the price of eggs is still expected to rise 40% by the end of the year.  Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) will invest another $1 billion on top of the roughly $2 billion it has already spent battling bird flu since the outbreak began in 2022.

The Trump administration offered the first new details Wednesday about its plan to battle bird flu and ease the cost of eggs. The increase in spending will include a boost to “biosecurity” on farms, but critics are unsure how much more can be done in addition to the progress already made.

The Agriculture Department predicts that the current record prices for eggs could soar more than 40% in 2025.

And the main reason egg prices have soared to hit a record average of $4.95 per dozen this month is that more than 166 million birds have been slaughtered to limit the spread of the virus after cases are found — with most of those being egg-laying chickens. -The New York Post

The USDA now predicts that egg prices will increase at least 41% this year on top of the already record prices.

Rollins said that she is confident that USDA will have the staff it needs to respond to bird flu even after all the cuts to the federal workforce at the direction of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. “Will we have the resources needed to address the plan I just laid out? We are convinced that we will,” she said, “as we realign and evaluate where USDA has been spending money, where our employees are spending their time.”

Trump administration officials have suggested that vaccines might help reduce the number of birds that have to be slaughtered when there is an outbreak.

Bird Flu Vaccine Incoming