Grocery Store Egg Shortages, What Does It Mean?

In 2009, the state of Michigan passed a bill that would require all farms with over 3,000 birds, selling eggs within the state, to move to a cage free system. Originally all stores had until 2019 to begin sourcing from cage-free farms. However, many believed that wasn’t enough time so it was extended to 2025. 

According to MDARD, this is what is required

• Hens must be free to roam unrestricted in indoor environments.
• Farm employees must be able to provide care to hens while standing in the hen’s usable floor space within indoor environments.
• Whether in indoor or outdoor environments, hens must be given enrichments that allow them to exhibit natural behaviors.
• Cage systems commonly described as battery cages, colony cages, enriched cages, enriched colony cages, or any similar cage system cannot be included within indoor or outdoor environments.

Farmers within the state had 16 years to make the necessary changes. Stores had 16 years to search for producers that met the new criteria, whether from within the state or not.

Now that it’s 2025, many stores are seeing extreme egg shortages around here. My opinion is that it’s a mix of issues all happening at once. First off, let’s not forget about the bird flu wreaking havoc on the commercial chicken farms. I was unable to find specific numbers for egg laying flocks, but since 2022 it’s well over 130 million birds killed. It looks like 63 million or so were egg producing chickens, but don’t quote me on that. For the record, these are not birds that died from bird flu, but the number of birds killed to prevent the spread. If one chicken tests positive within a house of thousands, they all go.

Chicken farmers are taking a huge hit, no doubt. So when they are also required to make large financial investments to meet new state requirements, in my opinion, I think they just took their business elsewhere rather than comply. Only 10 states, Arizona, California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, and Utah, so there are plenty of states to sell to still. I’m betting there are more that will switch on the horizon, but knowing how much goes into these massive chicken houses, financially, it’s not shocking that a lot of farms didn’t make the switch. Especially after taking so many blows from bird flu. 

We also can’t forget about inflation. The cost of everything is up, including the cost of eggs. Many producers are being squeezed out by rising operating costs, causing farms to close, which of course drives the price of the eggs up. This is not just an egg producer issue of course. It’s across all of agriculture. From the giants to the tiny farms. Also, it’s winter in Michigan, so all your local, pasture based egg dealers are low our out of stock. Remember, eggs are a seasonal product when the hens are raised outdoors without artificial lights and heated barns.

The other day, I shared my opinion on social media that was mostly met with nods of agreement, but a few misunderstood me. You can go read and watch the post I made on Instagram, if you missed it. Not on social media? The gist is that eggs were never supposed to be a cheap product in the commercial setting, and it shouldn’t be surprising that it’s all falling apart now. The business has been propped up by cheap feed subsidized by the government while cramming thousands of birds in small spaces. Eggs were only a super cheap source of nutrients when people raised their own hens and fed them kitchen scraps. 

But as far as “cheap” nutrients go, at $8 a dozen, one egg costs .67, which is 2 ounces for a large egg. This makes it .34 ish cents per ounce. For the amount of nutrients you get in one egg that isn’t “cheap”, it’s still pretty inexpensive compared to most other foods. Ya know what Cheetos cost per ounce, which is negative nutrition? $.85 per ounce if you buy a 3.5 ounce bag for $2.99 at Target. If you want to argue that you don’t eat the shell of the egg, then you can still double the cost per ounce and it’s still less than the Cheetos. Gas station food, which is the primary source for some peoples groceries, is not cheap when you look at the cost per ounce as well as the nutrients that it has, or does not have. I highly recommend looking at Sustainable Dish’s information on this. 

The handful of people that misunderstood me called me insensitive or elitist for saying eggs were never meant to be cheap. I’m not sure how that’s insensitive, as I never indicated that I was happy about the change to cage-free and that the store shelves are empty. I was just stating why this is likely happening. I also shared in my stories that I actually think it’s a waste of time and resources to force these farms to go cage free, as it’s just another form of greenwashing. The birds are no better off, in fact likely worse off as they no longer have the protection of a cage from the other thousands of birds they now must share one large barn space with. Their beaks and toes are still cut to prevent pecking each other to death and they still never see a blade of grass, bug, or sunlight. All this bill does is make the “cheap” eggs more expensive, or not available at all, hurting those who can’t afford to pay more for eggs. 

I’d like to make it very clear for anyone that’s still reading that two things can be true at the same time. It’s true that I wish all the animals we eat could live the best lives ever while they are in our care. That their feed comes from regenerative farms that don’t use sprays and pollute our water. But It’s also true that I want people to be able to afford nutrient dense foods, like eggs, and a lot of people are unable to prioritize this. I also think it surprises people to know that I don’t want the government involved in anyway shape or form. I don’t even want them to force farms to go organic, regenerative, or whatever the label d’jour is.

I think people should have the choice, whether it be due to financial or personal reasons, to support any farm they like. But it’s not a fair playing field when the government subsidizes the big farms, but not the little ones. Those big farms wouldn’t even exist if it wasn’t for the government intervention. I know that a lot of people think that’s good, or no one would be able to afford to eat. But I disagree with that. I think they make more problems that keep people from being able to afford the things they need/want. But that’s another conversation. 

All this to say, I don’t have any answers about how to help those who can’t afford $8-$10 eggs and can only afford or source from the gas station. That was never the point of my post, nor did it need to be. It’s not all or nothing. It’s also not black and white, and name calling for not having all the answers doesn’t do anyone any good. The sooner we accept that, the sooner people can have real dialogues about how to move forward in feeding our communities.