HARRIS COUNTY, Ga. (WRBL)— The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports in 2022, egg prices saw nearly a 60% increase.

“The cost of the world has gone up, and that’s affecting everybody,” Chris Tillman of Tillman Family Farms said.

When commercial egg prices increased, so did demand for local farmers. WRBL spoke with two Harris County farmers who say their prices have not fallen victim to inflation.

Egg prices reached an all-time high in Dec. 2022, hitting an average of $4.25 per dozen, compared to $1.81 at the beginning of the year. This is due largely to the increase in demand and decrease in supply.

“We had tons of people call in and we had tons of replies, ‘Sorry, no, we’re out of eggs,'” Tillman said.

Since the beginning of 2022, nearly 58 million birds were killed by the avian flu outbreak. This outbreak beat 2015’s outbreak that killed 50.5 million birds. Local farmers say they are working to keep their prices down amidst inflation in feed, fuel, and items as small as twine and packaging.  

“I think our feed costs went up maybe $0.05 to $0.07 per pound,” Farm Manager at Turntime Farms Matt Ward said.

“In times past, egg cartons would cost anywhere from $0.25 to $0.30 a carton. Now they’re costing anywhere from, you know, $0.55 to $0.65 per carton,” Tillman said.

Tillman Family Farms sells a dozen eggs for $6, the same price as a dozen eggs at Turntime Farms.

Ward says they were able to keep prices from rising by cutting material costs, relying primarily on labor, and utilizing regenerative farming style that nearly eliminates fuel costs.

“We built both of our mobile egg units and you can probably tell that a lot of them are just scraps,” Ward said. “When we were able to utilize that with no material cost, then why would we put the cost on somebody else when in fact, there’s really not one?”

Right now, the USDA says egg prices average at $4.21 a dozen, a four-cent decrease since its all-time high.

Prices are expected to continue to decrease as hens are in peak laying-season due to the longer periods of sunlight. However, the USDA says prices may increase marginally with Easter approaching.