The price of a steak and eggs breakfast is likely to continue to increase in 2025.
While record prices for eggs are well-documented, it’s likely steak will also hit a record, Nevada cattlemen were told last week.
“Markets have moved significantly higher over the last two years,” Oklahoma Cooperative Extension’s Darrell Peel said Jan. 13. “We’re halfway up the mountain of higher prices and we’re not at the top yet.”
He said supply is one reason prices are increasing with the cattle inventory at its smallest levels since 1951 and based on estimates the calf crop will be the smallest since 1950.
“By all of these measures we are at multi-decade lows for herds,” he said.
Peel blamed drought conditions across the country for the lower herd numbers.
“Mother nature has been driving the train and we find ourselves smaller than we intended to be, and smaller than the market wants us to be.”
Peel said that will drive higher prices in 2025 and 2026.
On Saturday, a 12-pack of cage-free, store-brand eggs cost $7.42 at the Gardnerville Walmart.
Eggs have been increasing in price and reduced in availability over the past few months after cases of avian flu contributed to culling flocks across the country.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 35.5 million birds were confirmed to have the virus since Oct. 24.
An effort to increase the number of eggs is expected to be an early bipartisan goal for the Nevada Legislature, according to the Retail Association of Nevada.
Assemblyman Howard Watts and Nevada Department of Agriculture Director J.J. Goicoechea are expected to address the ongoing egg supply chain challenges impacting Nevada families and businesses, the association said in a release issued last week.
"Nevada's retailers are grateful for the leadership of Assemblyman Watts and Director Goicoechea in expediting a solution that allows our state to access additional egg markets," said Bryan Wachter, senior vice president of the Retail Association of Nevada. "These efforts will provide much-needed relief to Nevadans who rely on affordable, high-quality protein products."
Nevada requires eggs to be produced in cage-free conditions under a 2021 law passed by the Legislature.