In warning to feds, Schumer says keep funding bird flu fight or else grocery costs could rise

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is raising concerns about the possibility of supermarket costs going up once more if the federal government decides to stop assisting the country’s farmers and farms in combating avian flu.

Schumer suggested that a coordinated federal response, involving the use of resources from USDA, HHS, CDC, NIH, and other federal agencies, is the strongest defense the nation has to protect itself against the bird flu spread.

Schumer asserts that these federal actions are essential to ultimately putting an end to the outbreak on farms and preserving reduced grocery prices for millions of Americans by integrating the work of those four agencies with isolation, sanitation, PEE, and other measures.

However, to accomplish it, strong and available federal finances are required.

Farms and farmers may have to hustle in the midst of the bird flu crisis due to the impending readministration, a new Congress, the stalemate around the Farm Bill, and the possibility that DOGE would cast a narrow-minded net. Stability is what we and our farmers desire, not anarchy throughout the agriculture sector. Since higher egg prices, as we all know, translate into higher grocery prices, which means less money in people’s pockets for other important things like rent or gas, Schumer said, he is urging the federal government and the relevant agencies addressing this outbreak, including USDA, HHS, CDC, and NIH, to keep up, use the federal funds currently appropriated, and be vocal if more is needed.

According to a written statement, HHS alone has already invested $306 million to continue fighting the bird flu, which has affected over 130 birds nationwide during January 2022 to January 6, 2025.

Of course, the price of eggs is correlated with the number of diseased birds.

In the end, we don’t want the federal government, farmers, or grocery store customers to have to deal with the potential of bird flu continuing beyond 2025. In order to try to control supermarket prices, Schumer stated that the federal government must remain laser-focused on containing the most recent avian flu outbreak and using congressional appropriations, while requesting additional funding if necessary.