To help solve its egg price crisis, America is turning to Turkey (the country)

America's egg shortage has led US businesses to turn to Turkey. Not the bird, the country.

Turkey plans to export 420 million eggs to the United States this year, the most ever, according to the Egg Producers Central Union in Turkey.

The ramped-up exports come as avian flu has killed more than 140 million egg-laying birds in the United States since 2022, and 17 million alone in November and December. Fewer birds means fewer eggs - and higher prices.

"Bird flu is the main reason of increasing export capacity," said Ibrahim Afyon, chairman of the Egg Producers Central Union in Turkey.

A carton of a dozen large Grade A eggs hit an average of $4.95 last month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Costco and Trader Joe's are limiting egg purchases per customer and Waffle House is charging a 50-cent surcharge per egg.

It will take months to replace lost flocks, and the US Department of Agriculture is forecasting an additional 20% increase in egg prices this year. The price of eggs rose 15.2% in January and are up 53% year over year, according to January's Consumer Price Index.

US businesses have taken it upon themselves to look for supply beyond our borders. And Turkey is the only country the United States imports eggs from, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation.

Still, experts warn the increased egg imports won't make much of a dent in America's egg shortage.

"While this is enough to offset some productions losses, it won't provide much support if HPAI (avian flu) continues at its current pace," said Bernt Nelson, an economist at the American Farm Bureau Federation.

The US produces more than 7.5 billion eggs per year on average, according to the American Egg Board. That number will fall this year as the avian flu continues to claim the lives of more birds.

"We support the temporary import of egg products to help ease the strain on the US egg supply as we navigate this challenging time of continued highly pathogenic avian influenza detections," said Chad Gregory, president and CEO of United Egg Producers. "Like everyone, we want to solutions to this situation."

One solution, at least for now, is importing more eggs. In 2024, the United States imported 71 million eggs from Turkey, according to the USDA. This year's imports will be nearly six times that based on the Egg Producers Central Union's estimates. By July, Turkey will deliver 240 million eggs to the United States, with the rest coming by the end of the year.

Turkey is the fifth-largest egg exporter in the world behind the Netherlands, United States, Poland and Germany. In 2023, Turkey exported $411 million worth of eggs worldwide, according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity. Turkey's export volume to the United States this year will total $37 million, according to the Egg Producers Central Union in Turkey.

Another plan: vaccinations

Doug Corwin, who had to cull his flock of 99,000 ducks on his farm in Long Island after the virus was detected, says it's time to start vaccinating birds against the virus.

Last week the USDA issued a conditional license for an avian flu vaccine for chickens. Zoetis, the manufacturer behind the vaccine, said the "license was granted on the demonstration of safety, purity, and reasonable expectation of efficacy based on serology data."

But vaccinations create a literal chicken and egg problem: Although many egg producers favor vaccinating chickens, poultry producers worry vaccinations would create trade problems.

If a country starts vaccinating its birds, the virus could be seen as endemic, and it can be hard to detect the virus in inoculated birds. Countries could become less eager to buy poultry from the United States, which is the world's largest poultry producer and second-largest exporter of poultry meat, according to the USDA.

Meanwhile, the White House says it is working on a plan to combat the avian flu. On Sunday, Kevin Hassett, the Director of the White House Economic Council, said on CBS' "Face the Nation" that the plan involves biosecurity, medication and a perimeter.

"Having a smart perimeter is what we're working on, and we're finalizing the ideas about how to do that with the best scientists in government. And that's the kind of thing that should have happened a year ago, and if it had, then egg prices would be, you know, a lot better than they are now," Hassett said on "Face the Nation."

Experts in the agricultural community say more funding and staffing is needed in research and surveillance of the virus. This comes at a time when the Trump administration is doing the opposite. There have been thousands of reported layoffs at agencies including the CDC and USDA.

"If ever there was a time when it was absolutely critical to not infuse more chaos into the system, this is it," said Rebecca Carriere Christofferson, an associate professor of pathobiological studies at the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine.

Earlier this week, the USDA had to revoke termination letters it sent to workers supporting the bird flu response.

CNN's Isil Sariyuce and Maria Sole Campinoti contributed to this report.

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