CEO of Wilcox Farms hopeful for bird flu vaccine as impact on farms ‘gut-wrenching’

Many are feeling the impact of egg prices, but what caused them to skyrocket?

According to CNBC, avian influenza, commonly known as bird flu, is to blame.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stated on its website that bird flu is widespread and is causing outbreaks in U.S. dairy and poultry.

“The whole industry is really reeling,” Brent Wilcox, CEO of Wilcox Farms, a high-quality egg producer in Pierce County, told “The Jake and Spike Show” on KIRO Newsradio Wednesday.

“We get on these calls when a farm comes down, we all get on and everybody hears what happens,” Wilcox shared. “You talk to the farmer, and it’s extremely gut-wrenching because you just feel what they’re going through. And the problem is, nobody has any good answers.”

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) confirmed the first case of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in a commercial flock in the U.S. on February 8, 2022.

No yolk: Egg prices skyrocket amid bird flu, inflation

Bird flu takes off in United States

As shown by USDA data, avian influenza is ravaging the country, with the number of affected birds growing significantly from November 2024 (6.93 million) to January 2025 (23.17 million), with nearly every state affected.

“A lot of the birds pretty much die within literally 48 hours,” Wilcox said. “I mean it’s almost like 93% will die.”

USDA data showing the outbreak of bird flu across the U.S. (Image courtesy of the USDA)

Looking at Washington, the last reported detection of the avian flu was Monday, when seven birds were confirmed affected in Mason County.

The USDA also reported there have been three affected commercial flocks, 52 affected backyard flocks and a total of 2,167,079 birds affected in the current outbreak in Washington alone.

‘Might become a delicacy:’ Beth’s Cafe, other eateries worried about growing egg shortage

To put it in perspective, the USDA stated there are more than 378.5 million egg-laying chickens in the U.S. However, more than 40 million egg-laying chickens died in 2024, according to CNBC, citing Amy Smith, vice president of Advanced Economic Solutions.

What happens when a farm has a confirmed case of bird flu?

“At that point, they don’t make you kill every bird in the house that got it, the whole farm has to go down,” Wilcox explained. “The government will reimburse you, basically, for the cost of the bird and the cost of having to take out the birds. The problem is, what the government doesn’t reimburse you for is for the loss of business, right? So it takes almost a year for you to get back and up running again, and that’s just on the farmer.”

The USDA said it will take months to replace the amount of dead hens to get the number of eggs for consumption back to normal levels.

Bird flu vaccine could be on the horizon

Wilcox also said that his farm had insurance for avian influenza but he was informed last year that the insurance would no longer cover the disease. However, he is hopeful a vaccine will soon be available as the situation he said is “getting worse, not better.”

“We’re hoping that a vaccine is not too far off,” he said. “I mean, I was on a call on Monday with the industry and they said that they think with the new administration, there might be hope of getting the go-ahead to start working on a vaccine and if that’s the case, that, you know, possibly could be a solution.”

Along with the bird flu, inflation is partly to blame for rising egg prices.

According to CNBC, citing data from Expana, on Friday, the average wholesale price for large, white shell eggs was at a staggering $8 a dozen. Ryan Hojnowski, a market reporter at Expana told CNBC the previous all-time high was late December 2022 at $5.46 per dozen.

Wilcox said farms are doing everything they can to produce more eggs and foster healthy birds.

“We’re doing everything we can to make sure birds are happy and safe and continue to lay it at the best rate possible,” he said. “We’re trying to put in more houses on our farms to be able to increase our production. It just takes time.”

Contributing: Frank Sumrall, MyNorthwest

Julia Dallas is a content editor at MyNorthwest. You can read her stories here. Follow Julia on X here and email her here.

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