US poultry sales up as Americans raise chicken to beat inflation

DW (English)

US inflation is rising and especially egg prices are going through the roof. Americans are taking extreme measures to make sure they can still afford their morning pancake.

Transcript

00:00It's become a common sight in U.S. grocery stores.

00:04Empty shelves. Hardly any eggs here.

00:07And if they can be found at all, they come with an astronomical price tag.

00:12And it's not only the raw stuff.

00:14The price of egg dishes in restaurants is up.

00:17Many fast food chains are adding a surcharge to everything from omelettes to pancakes.

00:22Food inflation is hurting Americans.

00:26So much so that some are getting creative.

00:30A growing trend, backyard chicken.

00:33Raising the animals at home brings a steady supply of the nutritious goods.

00:38This small livestock farm in Texas sets hobby farmers up.

00:45In the last few weeks we have noticed a dramatic increase in the demand for chickens.

00:50People are wanting to buy them because the egg prices have gone up or eggs just are not available.

00:56Our sales for poultry have doubled or may potentially triple.

01:00I mean we're selling 100 chickens a week or more.

01:05Truck driver Arturo Bequera is looking at Rhode Island Reds today.

01:09They're a popular breed because they're easy to raise and lay reliably.

01:15The egg prices went up a lot, a lot.

01:19It is expensive now.

01:21I guess it's cheaper to buy chickens than raise them.

01:25I think.

01:26We will see what happens.

01:30One of the reasons for the unusually high egg prices, the avian flu,

01:34which has decimated poultry livestock across the U.S.

01:37But while egg prices are visibly high,

01:41inflation has long been an issue for Americans.

01:44However, it has come down a lot from its post-COVID high near 10 percent.

01:49We're close but not there on inflation.

01:52And you did see today's inflation print which says the same thing.

01:56We've made great progress toward 2 percent.

01:59Last year inflation was 2.6 percent.

02:02So great progress but we're not quite there yet.

02:04So we want to keep policy restrictive for now.

02:08The Trump administration's policies are not helping.

02:11Whether it's loud appeals for lower interest rates

02:13or tariff threats against trade partners,

02:16economists are warning that Americans will continue

02:19to shell out more for goods and services.

02:22So maybe backyard chicken can ease the financial pain a bit.

02:26Although with the spread of the avian flu,

02:29the price for live chicken has gone up too.

02:37For more UN videos visit www.un.org

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