News

Egg supplies tightening ahead of Easter

Several factors are contributing to tighter egg supplies ahead of the Easter holiday.

CoBank lead protein analyst Brian Earnest says the U.S. table egg layer flock has been shrinking the past three years because of cage-free transitions, the COVID pandemic, and demand uncertainties.

“As to where the consumers are going to continue to get their food. So right now that uncertainty really plays into keeping supplies a little bit under wraps.”

He tells Brownfield the avian influenza outbreak is further dampening the production outlook at a time when eggs are being featured at many grocery stores.

“We’re still going to see some advertisements that feature eggs out there, but it may not be as aggressive as what they initially anticipated going into this period.”

Earnest says daily price quotations indicate egg prices are on a path to rally a dollar or more before Easter and could top highs experienced early in the pandemic.