An egg farmer shares an urgent warning about shortages as some supermarkets impose purchasing limits

Australian consumers are noticing empty egg shelves in major supermarkets, with some stores even imposing limits on purchases of the much-loved household staple.

The shortage comes as a result of the bird flu outbreak in Australia last year, with farmers now having to build up their egg stocks again, as well as high seasonal demand during the holiday season and a shift away from caged eggs, requiring producers to adjust their practices. Australia’s egg farming industry peak body said.

Watch the video above: Eggs are in short supply.

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Bird influenza outbreak, where strains of H7 virus affected eight poultry farms in Victoria, six in New South Wales and two in the ACT last year.Which led to the killing of millions of birds.

Egg farmer Daniel Cucinotta appeared on Sunrise on Tuesday, warning that the egg shortage could get worse in the coming months.

“In 2024, we learned that in May and June we had avian influenza in a number of our East Coast states, and we saw about two to three million birds culled, and now we’re seeing the effects of that,” Cucinotta said.

“This, on top of the fact that we have government-issued regulations that place a ban on nearly 50 percent of our production in the caged egg system.

“Then the final factor is that demand is rising.

“(Because of) the cost of living crisis, more people are eating eggs. I’m not sure how supermarkets will keep up unless they start farming, but farmers are working hard now to catch up.

The egg crisis could last for 12 to 18 months, Cucinotta said.

“Those farms that were devastated by the bird flu outbreak in June were the farmers who were producing directly for supermarkets.

“Remember, birds are not produced overnight. Our flock systems are prepared approximately two years in advance.

“All over this country there are only two breeders. It will take farmers 12 months, 18 months or two years to get their herd sizes back up and running,” she said.