Please help with the following:

Describe the context or set of circumstances to which you will be applying critical thinking. Please label this as CONTEXT. The context would be a brief summary of the relevant points in the story provided. "Egg Prices Have Soared 60% in a Year. Here Is Why They Are So Expensive". You can find this article on google. The full text is below starting with "Egg prices are soaring"

Next, identify what you think about these circumstances as your ASSERTION. Please clearly label it as your assertion #1.

Next, identify the assumptions that must be true in order to support assertion #1. Please label this assumption as ASSUMPTION #1.

Now, the most challenging part is to describe the empirical evidence that must be true for your assumption to be true. Please label it as EVIDENCE #1. Because an assumption can have multiple bases for evidence, you should make clear which other types of evidence pertain to assertion #1.

Next, consider alternative assumptions that assertion #1 is true or false, which would lead you to identifying ASSUMPTION #2., followed by its supporting evidence, which you would then label as EVIDENCE #2.

After you have identified the most important competing assumptions and supporting evidence for each one, you should decide which assumption has the most valid evidence. The one with the most valid evidence, then becomes the best assumption for supporting your initial assertion. Thus, you have conducted a test of your assertion by comparing the evidence for your competing assumptions

Egg prices are soaring as the deadlest avian influenza outbreak on record devastates poultry flocks across the country. The price of eggs rose 11.1% last month compared with the month before and was up nearly 60% in December from the prior year, according to Thursday's consumer-price index, a measurement of what consumers pay for goods and services. Overall inflation eased to 6.5%, according to this week's federal data. Here's what you should know. What are egg prices now? Egg prices have dropped slightly from record highs last month, but the grocery staple remains more expensive than usual and continues to squeeze consumer budgets. The price of eggs rose more than any other NEWSLETTER SIGN-UP grocery item in 2022, according to Information What's News Resources Inc. Wholesale prices of Midwest Catch up on the headlines, understand the large eggs dropped to $4.18 a dozen this week news and make better decisions, free in your from a high of $5.46 a dozen in December, inbox every day. according to research firm Urner Barry. In midJanuary 2022, wholesale prices of Midwest large eggs were $1.30 a dozen. Some retailers say egg prices typically drop after December, as demand cools following a surge driven by holiday baking and cooking. At Piggly Wiggly stores in Alabama and Georgia, egg prices fell about 50 cents a dozen this week to $6.43, the first drop in months, said Keith Milligan, the company's controller. Prices are likely to stay around the current level until declining further in February or March, he said, when suppliers expect new flocks of laying hens to help provide more supply. "Retailers will be reluctant to bring prices back to 'normal' levels for quite some time," said Brian Earnest, an animal protein economist at agricultural lender CoBank. Why are egg prices so high? Since the start of 2022, highly pathogenic avian influenza has led to the deaths of about 58 million birds. It is the deadliest outbreak of all time and the worst one since 2015 , when 50 million birds were culled, according to U.S. Agriculture Department data. U.S. egg inventories were 29% lower in the final week of December 2022 than at the beginning of 2022, according to the USDA. More than 43 million egg-laying hens had died as a result of the malady by the end of December. "Lower-than-usual shell egg inventories near the end of the year, combined with increased demand stemming from the holiday baking season, resulted in several successive weeks of record-high egg prices," USDA economists said in a January research note. Egg prices have also increased as part of overall food inflation driven by rising costs of labor, ingredients and logistics. Higher feed and transportation costs for producers mean shoppers will continue to face elevated egg prices even when the bird flu's effects diminish, said CoBank's Mr. Earnest. Why is this bird flu outbreak so deadly? Agriculture industry officials and analysts have attributed the rapid spread of the virus to wild birds carrying it to farms as they migrate. To limit the spread of the virus, whole poultry flocks are killed after an infection is confirmed. various parts of the country throughout the fall and winter. Poultry processors invested in new biosecurity measures and other precautions to mitigate the spread between farms. However, spreading the virus can be as simple as a worker stepping on wild bird fecal matter and forgetting to clean his or her boots before entering a commercial barn-leading to the death of an entire flock. Is there an ego shortage? There have been spotty shortages of eggs, but not a widespread one. The American Egg Board, which represents egg producers, has said shortages are rare. According to the Egg Board, farms are recovering faster than they did in 2015, bouncing back after an outbreak in roughly three months. Recovering from the previous outbreak took farms six to nine months. Kroger Co., KR 0.99% the nation's biggest supermarket chain, said its egg supply remains adequate, while some regional chains have said they are dealing with intermittent shortages. Organic eggs and other specialty eggs, which are sold to retailers and distributors on a fixed-price basis, have sometimes been cheaper than conventional varieties in recent months. Organic eggs have been harder to find in some instances because retailers are seeking to stock more of them. What are supermarkets and food companies doing about the egg situation? Because eggs are a staple product for U.S. consumers, grocers try to keep prices competitive. In fact, some retailers said they have sacrificed some profits on eggs for months to keep prices on shelves as low as possible. There aren't many substitutes for eggs. Supermarket operators have said they are trying to secure more plant-based egg alternatives or specialty varieties such as organic eggs. The largest U.S. egg producer, Cal-Maine Foods Inc., CALM -1.17\% last month said the avian influenza outbreak will keep the overall supply of eggs tight until the national egglaying chicken flock is replenished. What other products are affected? The supply of turkeys is also tight, with the avian flu leading to the deaths of about 10 million commercial turkeys, according to the USDA. Turkey breast meat prices in the spring of 2022 climbed above $6.50 a pound, an all-time high, and have stayed elevated since, according to federal data. Executives at Hormel Foods Corp., the second-largest turkey processor by volume behind Butterball LLC, said in a November earnings call that lower turkey production is expected through at least the first half of 2023. "Breast meat prices remain historically high and have yet to moderate," said Jacinth Smiley, Hormel's chief financial officer, in November