The Politics of Egg Prices

DOJ Says Egg Producers Manipulated Prices During Election Years

By 2024, eggs had become more than breakfast. They had become one of the defining symbols of the presidential race between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. Every trip to the grocery store came with another reminder of inflation, and a carton of eggs became one of the easiest ways to measure the rising cost of living.

Now, the federal government says there was more going on behind those prices.

The U.S. Department of Justice and attorneys general from 17 states accuse Cal-Maine Foods, Versova, and Hickman's Egg Ranch of coordinating bids submitted to Urner Barry Publications, a pricing service whose benchmark influences wholesale egg prices across the country. According to the complaint, the alleged conduct lasted from June 2022 through March 2025, covering nearly the entire presidential campaign.

Federal prosecutors allege the coordinated bidding inflated a benchmark used in contracts across the egg industry, increasing wholesale prices paid by grocery stores, restaurants, and other buyers. The companies deny wrongdoing and entered into a proposed settlement without admitting liability. Under the agreement, the three companies will pay a combined $3.3 million and donate more than 53 million eggs to food banks and nonprofit organizations. The settlement still requires approval by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa.

Inflation dominated the campaign, and eggs became one of its biggest symbols. In the South, which includes Texas, the average price of a dozen eggs climbed from about $3.07 in 2024 to a peak of about $6.40 in March 2025 before falling to about $2.30 by March 2026. Trump used those rising prices to criticize the economy. Harris defended the Biden administration's economic record and promised to lower costs.

By Election Day, egg prices had become one of the most recognizable measures of the economy. The federal lawsuit now shifts the focus from campaign rhetoric to what happened inside the egg industry.

The lawsuit does not accuse the companies of trying to influence the election or help any candidate. Instead, federal prosecutors argue the companies manipulated a pricing benchmark during the same period inflation dominated the presidential campaign.

Bird flu reduced the nation's laying hen population and limited egg production, driving prices higher across the country. The Justice Department does not dispute those market conditions. Instead, prosecutors argue the companies took advantage of those circumstances by coordinating bids used to raise a pricing benchmark that influenced wholesale egg prices. The lawsuit does not attribute every increase in egg prices to unlawful conduct. Federal prosecutors argue the companies manipulated one pricing benchmark while the industry already faced legitimate supply shortages.

The Justice Department also points to what happened after the investigation began. According to the complaint, Urner Barry's egg quotations declined significantly after the companies learned of the federal investigation and received document preservation notices in March 2025. Federal prosecutors cite that sequence as one piece of evidence supporting their allegations.

Cal-Maine Foods reported about $1.22 billion in net income during its 2025 fiscal year as egg prices reached record highs. The proposed settlement requires the three companies to pay $3.3 million, donate more than 53 million eggs, and adopt compliance measures designed to prevent similar conduct in the future.

By the time the lawsuit became public, the election was over, and voters had already spent months hearing about inflation. Egg prices had become one of the campaign's most recognizable talking points.

A carton of eggs became one of the defining symbols of the 2024 election. Now, the Justice Department argues the story behind those prices deserves the same scrutiny in federal court that it received on the campaign trail.

@Santitos

@salinasmariasantos

Copyright © 2026 Maria Santos Salinas for FRONTeras.

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