In the last quarter, bird flu has killed over 20 million birds. That includes a downstate NY farm that had to euthanize its entire flock of 100,000 ducks as part of quarantine efforts last week.
Average egg prices have jumped nearly two dollars per dozen in just a couple of months for New Yorkers.
Senator Chuck Schumer is calling on the Trump administration and the new Congress to ensure a $300 million investment into testing, isolation, personal protective equipment, and other efforts promised at the end of last year — gets to farms.
“It won't go over easy with me if the new administration or Congress tries to make drastic cuts," quipped Schumer, while standing in front of Alton's Restaurant in Cheektowaga. "Some of the cuts that have been proposed would be for these areas, because they cut the Department of Agriculture budget. So this is a bad thing. The USDA, Department of Health and Human Services, and Centers for Disease Control must coordinate the federal response. We got to keep the prices in check.”
Those rising prices not just felt by consumers, but by restaurants as well. Alton’s in Cheektowaga general manager Audrea Arricale said her costs for cases of eggs has skyrocketed, not just by the month, but by the week. Leaving them no choice but pass those costs onto customers.
"We use [eggs] in everything, and we want to serve quality ingredients. We want to keep the cost down. We have senior citizens, working class families that patron our restaurant, and we are part of that working class," Arricale said. "So we know how tough it is to come out and, you know, choose to spend your hard earned money here, and keep the prices affordable. We cannot be changing our prices every week to accommodate. Every week it's going up 10, 20, 15 dollars."
Schumer said he is hopeful funding and action for bird flu is included in this year's Farm Bill. The federal government hasn't passed a new Farm Bill since 2018, with Congress instead opting for extending it on two occasions when it expired in 2023.
The current Farm Bill extension runs through September 30, 2025.
