News for the Egg Industry Worldwide
October 2007/Volume 112 Number 10
2007 Egg Prices: One for the Record Books 1
Industry News 4
Get Ready for Intensified Surveillance on SE 6
Expect Cage-Free Innovations 9
Value-Added Commands Larger Presence—
and Premiums—in Market 10
Further Processing Egg Sector Continues to Grow 11
Eggshell Spotting/Mottling:What Is It and Why Does It Occur? 12
Marketplace 14
www.wattpoultry.com
2007 Egg Prices: One for the Record Books
Has the Industry Finally Learned How Not to Overproduce?
Egg Prices, New York, Cents/Dozen
$1.20
$1.03
1.00
.80
$82.2
$65.5
$71.8
.60
.40
.20
.0
2004
2005
2006
2007 Est.
Source: USDA
The above chart shows the rapid escalation of egg prices since 2004.
By Edward Clark, Editor
What a year for egg prices: they
started the year strong, and
didn’t let up. For example, in
late September, the Urner Barry large
Midwest price quote was $1.34 per
dozen, almost double the 70 cent price
of September 2006.
Will 2007 prices be the strongest
ever? “I believe that will be the case,”
says Gene Gregory, president and CEO
of United Egg Producers, Atlanta. Prices were also strong in 2003-04, but the
run-up then started late and didn’t run
as long, he states.
“This will be a very good, profitable
year, one of the best we’ve ever had,
but I won’t say most profitable because
grain prices have been so high,” he
adds, due to the ethanol boom.
In the past, producers have generally expanded when prices got high
to curtail high prices, but not this
time around. Reasons that prices have
stayed so high during the summer, says
Gregory, include:
➤ High costs of producing eggs due
to high grain prices;
➤ Compliance with UEP’s animal
welfare program by more producers,
which has kept numbers in check;
➤ This summer’s heat, which has affected production and egg size;
➤ The considerably reduced inventory of dried eggs; and,
➤ Strong exports throughout 2007.
Gregory says that historically, when
producers have a good, profitable year,
they make long-term investments in
new buildings, “but as a result of questions about bans on caged production
on both federal and state levels, producers have delayed expansion decisions.”
When asked by producers about the
future of caged production, Gregory
says he is “optimistic we will win the
battle.”
Looking at the rest of 2007, Gregory
predicts that the fourth quarter “will
be very profitable.” Longer term, what
concerns him is the percent increase in
