'We're losing money': Egg producers grapple with price crash in past year

Many egg producers are going through a tough time as prices have decreased sharply over the past year. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, a dozen Grade A large eggs cost consumers $4.55 on average in May 2025, but the price declined to $2.19 in May this year.

Among all egg categories, the average price declined 35.2% in May compared with the same month in the previous year, according to the latest Consumer Price Index. Egg producers said the sharp price crash is taking a toll on their businesses.

“We’re losing money, and losing a lot of it,” said Tony Wesner, the CEO of Rose Acre Farms, the second-largest egg producer in the U.S. “Last year was profitable, and this year is not going to be. It’s a large swing.”

Cal-Maine Foods, the largest U.S. egg producer, also reported its net sales fell 53% in the quarter ending Feb. 28, while net income fell 90%, compared with a year earlier. The company attributed the decline to increased supply following the influenza-induced disruptions in the previous year.

Some Missouri-based egg producers also reported a significant decline in their revenue.

Factors driving the price decline

The highly pathogenic avian influenza was first confirmed in a U.S. commercial flock on Feb. 8, 2022, and peaked in 2024 and 2025. It forced farmers to slaughter more than 166 million birds, mostly egg-laying chickens.

The average price of eggs was $2 per dozen before the outbreak. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, retail egg prices increased 32.2% in 2022, 1.4% in 2023, 8.5% in 2024 and 21.9% in 2025. The average price hit a historic high of $6.22 per dozen in March 2025 and has since been declining.

Seth Meyer, director of the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute at the University of Missouri and a former chief economist at the USDA, said the wholesale price peaked in February 2025, while the retail price peaked the following month. Following that, farmers increased their supply of egg-laying chickens following the mass-culling that took place at the height of the bird flu outbreak.

“The industry wanted to ensure it had backup production in case of another HPAI outbreak,” Meyer said. “When the HPAI outbreak does not occur, there are a lot of pullets sitting out there, so that overhangs the market.”

Wesner offered a similar perspective. “It’s too many chickens and too many eggs for what the market has to deal with today,” he said. “Between the commercial flock and the backyard flock, there are probably 450 million chickens laying eggs. That’s too many.”

He mentioned the rise of backyard flocks as a significant factor driving the surplus. He said when retail prices peaked in 2025, millions of Americans bought chicks at farm supply stores and started producing their own eggs.

“If you ever go to chick days at Tractor Supply, it’s big business,” he said. “The flock of chickens in this country laying eggs is bigger than it ever has been. Unfortunately, the government has no idea how many chickens are laying eggs.”

He added total egg consumption is probably at an all-time high, but commercial producers cannot capture that demand, as so much of it is being met by backyard birds that never show up in market data.

Meyer flagged a quieter force keeping prices down — commercial demand destruction. He said when egg prices surged, food manufacturers may have adjusted their recipes to use fewer eggs. Those formulas do not switch back overnight, even when prices fall.

How producers are coping

Rose Acre Farms, which operates 17 laying facilities in seven states, including Missouri, has been hit hard by the price fall. Wesner said, “There will be no profit in the coming year. Absolutely. It’s pretty rough at the moment.”

Smaller Missouri producers are also grappling with the decreased prices, though their experiences vary depending on how they sell their eggs.

Stanton Brothers Eggs is an independent mid-Missouri operation that grows its own grain, washes eggs on-site and sells directly to about 60 local retail outlets. Due to its business model, the farm has more control over its prices than other conventional contract producers, yet even so, its revenue is down.

“Our gross revenue is down by about 20% compared to last May,” said Dustin Stanton, co-owner of the egg farm. “Even though we can control our price and our margin a little bit, when prices go down in the market we still feel that.”

He described this as their tightest year yet. He also said producers who entered the industry in the past five years chasing the high prices, many of whom are still carrying debt, are in a far more difficult position.

Matt Van Schyndel is the owner of Hedge Holler Harvest, which sells eggs at farmer’s markets and deals directly with consumers. He experienced no rise or fall in prices, as he fixes the price and sells directly to customers.

“My prices aren’t down,” he said. “We got people just in line waiting for the product. I don’t chase the highs and lows. I just take care of my customers.”

No relief in sight

The coming months are unlikely to bring much relief for egg producers.

Wesner expects prices to stay low for the foreseeable future. “I think we’re probably looking at low prices for 18 months, maybe more,” he said.

He believes consumers will soon see eggs become cheaper, and it will push some backyard flock owners to stop raising their own chickens. He also expects commercial flock sizes to shrink in the coming months, which will eventually stabilize the market.

Meyer mentions two factors that he expects will keep downward pressure on prices even as the industry tries to rebalance: the large number of backup hens still waiting to enter production and demand destruction.

Jo Manhart, executive director of the Missouri Egg Council, said the market fluctuations boil down to simple principles of supply and demand. “When there’s plenty, the price is down. When there’s not enough, the price is up,” she said. “They just have to tough it out until the price gets better, and it will.”