>>507129323>Were caused by bird flu and it so was a problem that was bound to solve itself with time, no?It was a compound problem, so yes and no.
>bird fluYes. Entire flocks were culled to prevent the spread. Egg production is much more consolidated than meat production; a very small number of huge facilities produce the vast majority of eggs. So a few losing their flocks cause a spike in prices.
>it would solve itselfEventually, sure. But the DoJ threatened to investigate egg produces for price fixing, and the prices immediately began to fall.
Egg producing hens can’t just be bought over night; they have to be grown. Then egg production has to be ramped up. The number of facilities that provide egg-producing hens to farms is fairly limited. They can’t exactly quadruple their output.
The problem wasn’t supposed to resolve itself until July or August. The fact that 1) prices began falling after the DoJ threatened an investigation and 2) the problem wasn’t supposed to resolved well before it was physically possibly to do so means there was collusion, and it wasn’t a cut-and-dry issue of supply.