Nebraska: More consumers shopping local as bird flu drives up egg prices

NEBRASKA CITY, Neb. —As a result of the bird flu, many people are looking at other options to buy eggs, even going local.

One Nebraska farmer said she can't produce them fast enough.

All of the birds at Nebraska Freedom Farms are healthy, but the impacts of bird flu can still be felt.

When Lisa Burkey-Jeeves started selling the farm fresh eggs produced by her healthy Nebraska City flock, she heard from skeptics who told her that her price was too high.

"They thought I was a little crazy at $4 a dozen for eggs," Burkey-Jeeves said.

However, when birds started dying by the millions at big farms, she started hearing something different.

"I'm hearing, 'Can I get some?'" Burkey-Jeeves said.

The prices for a dozen eggs got a lot more competitive.

"When you look in the store now, the regular eggs have shot up," Burkey-Jeeves said. "Just regular eggs are $3.29."

Her chickens can't keep up with demand and it's hard for her to expand the flock. All poultry events in Nebraska have been cancelled until at least January.

"We're going to attempt next year to hatch our own," Burkey-Jeeves said. "So the more self-sustaining you are, the better things are."

The bird flu hasn't made for an easy spring for any farmers, but Burkey-Jeeves said she believes it has made consumers more aware of what they're eating.

"That's kind of what our farm is about, is to help people reconnect with where their food comes from -- whether its a plant or eggs or whatever we're doing," Burkey-Jeeves said.

The farm hopes to keep up with demand for fresh eggs by this fall, but with prices increasing at the grocery story, it's hard to predict.

According to the Nebraska Department of Agriculture, about 4.9 million birds have been impacted by the avian flu in the state. All of those cases have been in Dixon County Read More via ketv.com