Is American egg deficiency bite’s sake of Trump -spokesman claiming? | Food news

President Donald Trump promised to lower prices for groceries, including eggs. But a crack in his plan is that egg prices have not fallen since he took office on January 20.

The White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, in her first news briefing on the camera on January 28, accused it on former President Joe Biden’s “inflation policy.”

Leavitt said the Biden administration and the US agricultural department “conducted mass draps of more than 100 million chickens, which has led to a lack of chicken supply in this country, therefore a deficiency of egg supply, leading to the deficiency”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjogsqqydy4

Leavitt’s statement is partly exactly about the abolition of millions of chickens, but she omitted important details and context as to why it happened.

First, the chickens were killed to prevent the spread of the highly pathogenic aviary flu or bird flu.

Secondly, it has been prolonged USDA policy to abolish a whole bunch of birds when bird flu has been discovered, including during Trump’s first administration.

The White House Deputy Secretary Anna Kelly referred Politifact to Leavitt’s news briefing comments.

Egg prices rose below the bite – from $ 1.60 per Dusin in February 2021 to $ 4.10 in December 2024 (his first and last full months in Embed), the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows data. The agricultural department’s food price for January said that egg prices could rise approx. 20 percent more this year.

A spokesman for Expana, a company that tracks consumer prices, told news output axes that a dozen large eggs cost more than $ 7 in some US regions.

Since February 8, 2022, when the virus was detected in a commercial flock, more than 147 million birds, including chickens, turkeys, ducks and geese, died, USA said.

USDA data shows that 108 million laying chickens died since 2022, including 13 million by 2025. It is not clear how many were killed or died of the virus.

Per. On January 29, bird flu has also been detected in dairy cattle affecting 944 herds in 16 states, US centers of disease control and prevention data show. People have also tested positively for the virus – 67 confirmed cases are reported in the United States and a person is dead, CDC said.

Why are flock removed?

Experts told Politifact that the birds are removed to prevent the virus from spreading. This not only protects farms nearby and the poultry industry, but public health. A federal law of 2002, the Law on Animal Health Protection, provides USDA’s animal and plant health inspection service authority to mitigate herds and flocks to stop the spread of the disease.

“If the birds are dead, the virus dies with them,” said Russ Daly, a veterinarian for the South Dakota Department of Health and a professor of South Dakota State University.

Chickens that contract the bird flu virus have little chance of survival; 90 percent to 100 percent of them die, usually within 48 hours, CDC said.

Waiting for the chickens to die naturally, allowing more viral strain in the atmosphere, making it more dangerous for the farms and other people who come into contact with the farm, said Jada Thompson, a University of Arkansa’s agricultural economy and associate professor of Agribusiness.

Is this policy new?

Several veterinary professors told Politifact that depopulation or “stamping” of sick birds is a long -term policy and pointed to a 2015 bird flu outbreak under the Obama administration.

Settlement is USDA’s primary control and extermination strategy for Aviary Influenza, said Yuko Sato, a veterinary and Iowa State University lecturer.

“This latest outbreak is devastating because of the large number of rooms involved since 2022,” said Carol Cardona, a veterinary professor at the University of Minnesota and chair of Aviary Health. “But the rule has been there for a very long time now.”

A 2016 USDA report shows that in 2015, depopulation resulted in 50 million birds being killed.

A USDA BIRD FLU -SHEARPLAN, which was updated in May 2017 during Trump’s first administration, incorporates political guidance based on lessons from influenza outbreaks under Obama and first Trump administrations. It said: “Quick depopulation of infected poultry is critical of stopping virus transfer and must be prioritized.”

During a bird flu -outbreak in March 2017, a USDA report said: “Nearly 253,000 birds were displaced.”

How does depopulation work?

USDA calls on farmers who notice signs of illness to contact the USDA or their state veterinary. Samples taken from the animals are tested and the USDA confirms cases; Settlement usually takes place within 48 hours of the virus confirmation.

The USDA pays the farmers for the killed birds.

“It is in the farmer’s best interest to get this done quickly as the USDA delivers replacement payments for the euthannmented birds, but not those who die naturally,” Daly said.

Our decision

Leavitt said there is an egg deficiency because the Biden administration “conducted mass frapes of more than 100 million chickens”.

During the Biden administration, more than 100 million laying chickens died of bird flu or were killed to stop the spread of the virus. This led to an egg deficiency and higher prices.

Settlement is a prolonged practice of preventing bird flu from spreading, agricultural experts said. Government documents show that the depopulation was the USDA’s bird flu strategy in Trump’s first period and during 2015 outbreaks under Obama.

Leavitt’s statement is partially accurate but omits important details and context. We evaluate it Half true.