Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said the U.S. will boost funding for biosecurity measures and farmer relief and move toward temporary deregulation.
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said she is planning to boost federal funding and temporarily remove certain regulations surrounding egg farming to stem the rapid price increases of the household staple.
On Feb. 26, Rollins outlined a five-point plan “to lower egg prices” in an op ed in The Wall Street Journal. In a press release, the White House called the article “the Trump Administration’s comprehensive plan to bring down the price of eggs.”
It is not immediately clear if the article’s publication will result in any corresponding federal actions. Representatives of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) did not immediately respond to a request for clarification from The Epoch Times.
Over the past two years, egg-laying hens in the United States have been racked by a devastating outbreak of H5N1, a highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) known as avian flu or bird flu. The Epoch Times previously reported that egg prices are as high as they have ever been in the country, largely due to a massive loss of so-called layer hens since the current outbreak began in 2022.
“The Agriculture Department will invest up to $1 billion to curb this crisis and make eggs affordable again,” she said.
Rollins’s plan includes boosting funding for biosecurity, financial relief to farmers, “exploring the use of vaccines and therapeutics for laying chickens,” removing “unnecessary regulatory burdens,” and potentially allowing temporary imports.
Several points called for new spending, which Rollins said would be financed in part by cutting “hundreds of millions of dollars of wasteful spending.”
Rollins said she wants the USDA to spend as much as $500 million on implementing “gold-standard” biosecurity measures. She referenced a recent visit to a Cal-Maine Foods Inc. laying facility in Bogata, Texas, which was using strict, wash-in wash-out biosecurity rules. These rules required employees to wear protective gear and to shower upon entering and leaving and vehicles to be washed before entering the premises.
Rollins proposed expanding the USDA’s “Wildlife Biosecurity Assessments” program to help more egg farmers identify and eliminate their biosecurity vulnerabilities.
“USDA will now provide this consulting service at no cost to all commercial egg-laying chicken farms,” she said. “We will also pay up to 75 percent of the cost to repair biosecurity vulnerabilities.”
Rollins also pitched providing an additional $400 million in federal funds for farmers whose flocks are affected by avian flu. The USDA already has a so-called indemnity payment plan in place to help farmers recover financially from losses caused by HPAI.
Next, Rollins said, the USDA is “exploring” using vaccines and therapeutics to combat the disease.
“While vaccines aren’t a stand-alone solution, we will provide up to $100 million in research and development of vaccines and therapeutics to improve their efficacy and efficiency,” Rollins said. “This should help reduce the need to ‘depopulate’ flocks, which means killing chickens on a farm where there’s an outbreak.”
The Epoch Times previously reported that using vaccines against HPAI is a tricky issue in the poultry industry because of the potential risk it presents for the export-dependent chicken meat businesses.
“We will also work with our trading partners to minimize potential negative trade effects for U.S. producers and to assess public-health concerns,” Rollins said.
Along with federal spending pledges, Rollins said the USDA will “remove unnecessary regulatory burdens on egg producers where possible.”
“This will include examining the best way to protect farmers from overly prescriptive state laws, such as California’s Proposition 12, which established minimum space requirements for egg-laying hens, increasing production costs and contributing to the Golden State’s average price of $9.68 a dozen,” she said. “We also want to make it easier for families to raise backyard chickens.”
The agriculture secretary said the USDA is also considering allowing “temporary import options” to increase the available supply of eggs.
“We will proceed with imports only if the eggs meet stringent U.S. safety standards and if we determine that doing so won’t jeopardize American farmers’ access to markets in the future,” Rollins said.