Sometimes, you have to break a few eggs, though it’s a costly prospect for Michigan grocery shoppers.

A Michigan senator, pointing to the skyrocketing price of eggs, has introduced legislation to repeal a 2019 mandate. The decree, which took effect on Jan. 1, requires all eggs sold in retail stores throughout the state to be from cage-free producers and applies to those with at least 3,000 egg-laying hens.

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Coupled with an avian flu outbreak that has cost Michigan and the country millions of chickens, the results have been catastrophic, leading to higher costs that harm consumers amid an era of high inflation.

Roughly 133.5 million birds have been euthanized nationwide amid a bird flu outbreak. During the past year, roughly 7 million chickens in the state have been slaughtered. According to The Alpena News, which cites U.S. Department of Agriculture data, there are 1,400 outbreaks in flocks in all 50 states.

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“In 2024 alone, over 40 million egg-laying hens were lost nationwide due to the spread of bird flu, with Michigan accounting for 6.5 million of those losses — 16.5% of the national total,” state Sen. Lana Theis, R-Brighton, said in a release. “These devastating numbers have disrupted supply chains, leading to shortages and historically high prices at the grocery store.”

“Cage-free systems require birds to roam freely in open spaces, which increases their exposure to pathogens like the highly contagious H5N1 virus,” Theis added. “When wild bird droppings contaminate these environments, it becomes far easier for the virus to spread, forcing farmers to cull entire flocks and prolonging the egg supply crisis.”

The legislation, Senate Bill 28, will be formally read and referred to a committee on Jan. 28.

While the spread of bird flu is attributed to being the primary driver of record-high prices, Theis stressed that the added burden of cage-free mandates worsens the issue for Michigan consumers. The Great Lakes State is one of five states, joining California, Nevada, Washington and Oregon, that compels all eggs sold within its borders to come from cage-free systems.

According to the lawmaker, egg prices have skyrocketed 36.8% over the past year, reaching nearly $9 per dozen in some areas. A review by The Midwesterner found that some stores have doubled the price of a dozen eggs while others have reported being sold out.

Michiganders may not be out of the woods yet. Experts warn egg prices could rise by 20% more this year as the bird flu epidemic shows no signs of subsiding.

“We cannot promise this legislation will immediately lower egg prices, but we can remove one of the factors contributing to the financial strain on both farmers and families,” Theis said. “By giving producers greater flexibility to choose systems that work best for their operations, we are empowering them to focus on rebuilding healthy flocks and stabilizing the egg supply.”

“This is a commonsense solution to help Michigan farmers recover while making it easier for families to afford a basic staple,” Theis said. “Our farmers are some of the hardest-working people in the state, and we owe it to them, and to every Michigander struggling at the grocery store, to address the issues driving up costs and creating shortages.”

Even the mainstream media, such as Axios and the Detroit Free Press, haven’t been able to ignore the Wolverine State’s egg crisis.

“I know that there have been some sourcing issues resulting in less than fully stocked grocery shelves here today,” Tim Boring, director of the state’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, told Axios. “This egg market is pretty fluid.”