USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins unveiled her plan to lower egg prices in a piece published in The Wall Street Journal.
Announcing her “comprehensive strategy to combat avian influenza,” Rollins said the USDA will “invest up to $1 billion to curb this crisis and make eggs affordable again” by working with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to end wasteful spending.
The funds will be invested in “long-term solutions to avian flu.”
Rollins described her “five-pronged strategy” to eradicate avian flu. The strategy involves dedicating “up to $500 million to helping U.S. poultry producers implement gold-standard biosecurity measures,” making “up to $400 million of increased financial relief available to farmers whose flocks are affected by avian flu,” consider the use of vaccines, remove unnecessary regulations on egg producers, and consider importing 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,” she assured.
Rollins noted that the plan will “ensure stability over the next four years and beyond.”
“American farmers need relief,” she said, “and American consumers need affordable food. To every family struggling to buy eggs: We hear you, we’re fighting for you, and help is on the way.”
When asked by reporters how he planned to address egg prices, President Trump said, “Well, there’s a flu. Before I got here, it was already at an all-time high.”
“I’ve been here for three weeks. I have had nothing to do with inflation. This was caused by Biden. I had four years of virtually no inflation. So I’m just taking over,” he said. “But I’ll tell you what, this country has made more progress in the last three weeks than it’s made in the last four years, and we’re respected again as a country.”
