National egg shortage means skyrocketing demand at farm
Yemassee farmer Fran Mosher said the egg shortage at grocery stores has been helping her family's business.
By Savannah Younger
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YEMASSEE, South Carolina (WJCL) — The bird flu is affecting egg prices and causing shortages across the country, including in Southeast Georgia and the Lowcountry.
“In one of those half cartons, and I think it was like $3 to $6 somewhere in that range, and I was just shocked that it would cost $1 for one egg,” said Savannah shopper Paige Stephens.
The bird flu outbreak is causing farmers to slaughter entire flocks to limit the virus’s spread. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, egg prices are estimated to increase by nearly 20% in 2025, compared to about 2.2% for food prices in general. December’s national average for a dozen eggs was $4.15.
Yemassee farmer Fran Mosher said the egg shortage at grocery stores has been helping her family’s business.
“It’s been amazing mainly because everyone says, ‘We can’t get eggs in the store, we need eggs,’ and so we have people calling and ordering them,” said Mosher, of HD FARM.
Mosher said the bird flu hasn’t impacted her, and she’s not concerned it ever will.
“We’re with our chickens every day, so we see them; we can see the health of our birds every single day,” said Mosher.
Mosher and her family have several coops, collecting a whopping 200 eggs a day. She delivers them on Wednesdays for customers who place orders during the week and also sells them at Port Royal’s Farmers Market on Saturdays.
“We appreciate that we have loyal customers who have been buying from us even when there were eggs on the shelf, but then they’ve told people you need to go to HD Farms and get eggs,” said Mosher.
Mosher said last weekend, she had a great turnout for egg orders: “We were sold out before we even got to the market.”
The warm weather also plays a factor in Mosher’s egg production, stating that during winter weather, hens don’t lay many eggs.
“With this beautiful weather that we’re having, it really has helped with production. And so more eggs, more people satisfied,” said Mosher.
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