eggs

     After seeing eggs for $4.58 per dozen with a limit of 2 at the grocery today I am wondering who is getting the dollars of increase in price, the farmers or the in between guys. Figured some of you on here would have first hand knowledge.

Some friends are raising their prices also. Still half of store prices. They are down on production as well due to cold and shorter daylight hours. They are leaving a light on in the hen house which has helped a little

The farmers always get the short end of the stick. If the price in the store goes up then the farmers should get more also IMHO. I prefer to buy eggs from a local farm and don’t mind paying a bit more for them since I know whose pocket it is going into. 

Explanation Chicken Egg Production

In 2023, the total number of eggs produced in the United States was 110 billion, which was slightly lower than 2022. (110,000,000,000)( 9,167,000,000 dozen)

The number of laying hens in the United States increased by 1% in 2023, averaging 382 million.

The average number of eggs produced per layer has increased due to improvements in nutrition, genetics, disease prevention, and flock management.


Large commercial farms, called "in-line" farms, produce over 85% of the eggs in the United States.

Coke-in-MN wrote: Look for another reason , large egg producer here in MN just had fire - about 10,000 chickens lost - one of 5 buildings at facilities total loss .

Edited by NEVER green - 18 hours 48 minutes ago at 8:09am

They are sayig bird flu killed complete flock of chikens in the Carolinas

    I didn't really think that farmers would receive any of the huge price increase but one can always hope. I have heard a couple consumers comment about "how much more the farmers afe getting for their eggs". Seems like any time food prices increase the consumer automatically blames the farmers. 

tadams(OH) wrote: They are sayig bird flu killed complete flock of chikens in the Carolinas

There's been a confirmed case on the South Carolina border. I think the article said the farm had 45,000 breeders. If I'm not mistaken, the requirement per the USDA is they euthanize all commercial flocks within 5 miles. That's how they "contain it". It's a very expensive problem for a lot of people

Like anything in farming, make a little money when the price goes up and hang on when it goes back down, grain, Dairy, hogs. Beef, think about what they are paying for feeders now what happens when fats go down. Chickens' eggs are up but if you get the bird flu and have to destroy a barn full of birds that takes time and money. The middlemen, everybody wants better wages and benefits, and trucking costs continue to go up. So unless you are a CEO getting a big wage, the rest of us aren't getting rich.

DanWi wrote: Like anything in farming, make a little money when the price goes up and hang on when it goes back down

With commercial poultry it's slightly different. We get paid per pound for meat production or per either dozen or thousand for egg production. We have a constant contract price. This way we're protected from market price fluctuations and feed cost fluctuations. The problem with this is our per pound price is so low that the integrator can afford to absorb the cost increases when prices drop. Another problem with this is we have to go big or go home. When we were building, our bank wouldn't allow less than 6 houses. We wanted 4 but they said it's too tight and they didn't feel comfortable with 4. 6 houses puts our capacity between 234,000 and 240,000. At this capacity, even with a bad flock, the bank is confident that their payment is covered and their investment (the farm) will continue. It sounds like it's a money making machine, and to an extent, it is. The problem is, same with any other farming venture, there's a hell of a lot of work and almost enough capitol to hire adequate help. We currently make enough that Danielle could quite teaching and we're making it ok with having to pay insurance premiums. If we lived a more luxurious life, we wouldn't be able to contribute with just the farm income.

So why do we do it? We don't have to deal with very many people, we don't have to punch a time clock, and we can teach our girls a lot of the same lessons we learned growing up in a similar manor. Sorry for getting long winded. Seems like most farming topics here don't hit as close to home so I have to make up for lost time I guess

jaybmiller wrote: dang,late best friend had 100 birds and THAT was a chore, I can't imagine you get much sleep with 1/4 MILLION birds !!! THANK YOU  and wife and all the others !!!! There is more than just you 2 doing this ,right ???

On our farm it's me and her doing the daily chores and when we need help we call in family. Kids first. All the feeding and watering is done automatically so our daily stuff is picking up dead, culling, making sure the environment inside the houses is good (dry floors, clean air, feed line and water line heights adjusted properly) and any repairs that are required. There are between 60 and 70 farms contracted with the same integrator that we have and there are 3 integrators in our area. A fourth might come this far if they get enough production