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‘Constant supply going to the stores;’ Wholesale egg prices slowly falling, when will retail prices?

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KETTERING — The price of wholesale eggs is starting to fall, and shoppers are hoping to see the price drop in stores soon.

News Center 7′s Kayla McDermott spoke with Jim Chakeres, Executive Vice President of the Ohio Poultry Association, Friday, and he said the drop in price has to do with supply and demand.

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“There’s more of an egg supply available. More farms are getting back in production that weren’t previously,” said Chakeres.

Even with wholesale pricing dropping, retail prices remain the same. USDA data released Friday shows the national retail price dropped 24% from last week.

“There’s a constant supply going to the stores, and most eggs are in the on the grocery store cases, within 72 hours of being laid,” said Chakeres

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McDermott visited various supermarkets around the Miami Valley, where the price of eggs ranged from $3.29 - $4.98 a dozen.

“We do hope that the prices in the grocery store do start coming down. Egg farms are price takers, not price setter. So we really don’t have much control over that,” said Chakeres.

Wholesale egg prices in the midwest have decreased by $0.46 since last Friday, according to USDA egg market data.

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“It’s crazy to me for some eggs that used to be way cheaper. I think that’s good that we’re gonna have them in stock, and hopefully, the prices go down,” said Dez Walker of Wilberforce.

It is up to the supermarkets to change the retail prices of eggs, Chakeres told News Center 7.

“I think they should lower the prices. Yeah, that would be awesome,” said Glenn Hermanson, Kettering.

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Right now, the cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) around the US are not too bad for egg farms, but if that number increases, the prices of eggs will be reflected in that number.

USDA data shows 763 flocks in the United States have tested positive for HPAI, affecting 47 states. In Ohio, there is one backyard flock of 30 birds with HPAI and no confirmed cases in commercial flocks. Nationwide, the flu has been detected in 316 commercial and 447 backyard flocks, affecting 58.39 million birds, according to the USDA.

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