![]() ![]() Increased labor costs are also a factor, though less so for eggs than, say, for beef or chicken, because of automation. “A lot of that is corn and soybean meal, which has been going up pretty dramatically, but we also use a lot of different amino acids and vitamins.” “The cost of an egg is about 60 to 70 percent feed, and the cost of our feed has gone up 30 to 50 percent, depending on the mix, since the end of 2020,” he said. Sam Krouse, vice president of business development at MPS Egg Farms, which is headquartered in Indiana, told me that input and production prices for his operation are up “pretty dramatically” at the moment. Egg prices depend in part on the chickens that lay the eggs - and currently, they’re more expensive to feed. The cause of the egg price increases we’re experiencing now is more of a production issue than a demand one, though both are in the mix. “You don’t think about how pervasive it is.” It’s expensive to feed chickens “Eggs are also an ingredient,” said Karyn Rispoli, who covers the egg market for Urner Barry. Because eggs are in so many food items, you can see how all of this could push prices up on other things, too. Sign up here.Īs Marc Dresner, director of integrated communications at the American Egg Board, put it, “It’s not like we have eggs sitting in tankers off the coast of Los Angeles.” But still, the egg industry, like every industry, is facing higher prices and challenges that are leading to costlier eggs for consumers overall.Īccording to USDA data provided by Urner Barry, which follows the food commodity market, the average year-to-date price on Grade A large eggs was $1.46 a dozen, which is up from $1.01 a dozen in 2021 and $1.00 a dozen in 2020. 89/dozen eggs that were selling last year to a blue, organic, pasture raised dozen of eggs selling for $15 isn't a valid comparison.Twice a month, Emily Stewart’s column exposes the ways we’re all being squeezed under capitalism. That means the farmer needs to sell their blue eggs for more money. Organic eggs cost more because the cost of organic feed is greater and there are other stipulations for farms selling organic eggs, including more space for the chickens, all of which add to the end cost of the eggs.īlue eggs generally will cost more because blue egg laying breeds are not only not as consistent layers as the leghorn, for example, that lays white eggs, but also because those breeds are larger and need to eat more feed in order to produce their eggs. Price gouging? Maybe, but these eggs do also cost more to produce.Įggs that are fortified with Omega-3 supplements come with an added cost to the producer for the flax supplements, so those eggs cost more. So yes, these eggs have also doubled -to $14-15/dozen. Just prior to the other factors coming into play that have caused an increase in egg prices, several brands introduced "designer "eggs to the market that were priced in the $7-8 range. And all of these things add to the cost of producing that dozen eggs. Those eggs are still in the $2-3/dozen range.īut nowadays, you can find organic eggs, omega-3 fortified eggs, free range eggs, blue eggs, you name it. They're seeing eggs on the grocery store shelves costing $14.99 and more, but that's not your everyday run-of-the-mill cartons of eggs that were hovering around $1/dozen. I think part of the "sticker shock" that shoppers are experiencing is that they're not always comparing apples to oranges, so to speak. 89 cents in a nondescript styrofoam carton to choose from are over. The days of only having a dozen plain white eggs for. So-Called "Designer" Eggs Cost More to Produce ![]() Those additional costs resulting in less efficient production will naturally also be passed along to consumers in the years to come as the percentage of cage-free flocks is expected to rise from 4% in 2010, to the current 28% today, and ultimately to nearly 70% by 2027. Additionally, a cage-free environment purportedly leads to aggression between the hens and a higher mortality rate as well as more broken eggs. This means that instead of being able to keep each chicken in a cage no bigger than a sheet of copy paper, the hens will be allowed to roam freely (well, as freely as they can while still shut up in a huge building).Ĭonverting their facilities to be cage-free is an added cost to egg producers. Specifically, in response to public outcry, commercial hen houses are going cage-free. Several states, including California, Washington, Colorado, Michigan, Massachusetts, and Utah, have recently imposed (or are in the process of imposing) new rules about how commercial laying hens must be housed. New Cage-Free Regulations Resulting in Increased Commercial Egg Costs
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