A perfect storm has struck the poultry industry, and you could pay the price.

First, the Legislature passed a law in 2019 requiring large chicken farms to keep their animals cage-free if they want to sell eggs in Michigan. Lawmakers gave farmers five years to come into compliance with the new requirement, but the new law meant many farmers had to invest in rebuilding their farms to get their animals out of cages.

Then, more recently, an outbreak of avian flu has torn through the nation, forcing farmers to kill millions of birds to stop the spread of the disease (the disease has also now been discovered in livestock).

Add to those concerns the ongoing struggles with inflation that have hit all industries, raising the cost of doing business.

Fewer birds means less supply, while demand remains high. That raises prices.

The cost of doing business has gone up, and farmers have to turn a profit. That raises prices.

While egg prices had hovered around $2 a dozen in Alpena, Save-a-Lot charged $4.99 on Monday and Walmart charged $5.42, News staff writer Steve Schulwitz reported in Tuesday’s edition of The News.

That’s a roughly 150% price increase.

Not much can be done to bring those prices down quickly. State Rep. Cam Cavitt, R-Cheboygan, who represents Northeast Michigan, told Schulwitz he’d like to see the Legislature do something to address the 2019 law, but farmers already have spent the money to meet the requirements of that law, and aren’t likely to spend more money to build more cages.

State, federal, and local public health officials are working to stop the spread of avian flu, but, until that gets under control, more birds will be put down.

Inflation has eased in recent months, but it’s still with us.

Things could get worse before they get any better.

We may buy fewer eggs or less chicken, which might help ease the demand and perhaps bring prices down some, but eggs are a staple and they’re hard to go without.

So all we can do as consumers is make sure we’re aware of the new costs and factor those into our budget when we head to the grocery stores.