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Eggs, Chicken Production Down Slightly in 2024

TOPICS

HPAI Poultry

Bernt Nelson

Economist

Chad Smith

Associate News Service Editor, NAFB

photo credit: AFBF Photo, Philip Gerlach

Bernt Nelson

Economist

Chad Smith

Associate News Service Editor, NAFB

A new report from USDA sheds light on chicken and egg production in the U.S. last year. Chad Smith takes a look at the numbers.

Smith: The USDA released its annual Chicken and Eggs Summary this week, which presents data on the number of egg layers, egg production, and the total U.S. chicken inventory as of December 1, 2024. Bernt Nelson, an economist with the American Farm Bureau Federation, says the report gives important insight into the U.S. poultry flock.
Nelson: According to this report, layers in 2024 were estimated at an average of 375 million. Now this is down about two percent from last year. Our egg production from layers total 109 billion eggs, down one percent. Lastly, let's talk about the overall chicken inventory. Now this came in at 514 million birds, down about two percent from last year.
Smith: While USDA reports a modest increase in the price of broiler chickens, egg prices have taken a much more significant jump.
Nelson: Eggs have come up dramatically over the last couple of months. The average New York wholesale price for large eggs for the last week in January was $7.46 a dozen, more than 150 percent of where we were at, at $2.94, last year. The annual average price projection by USDA for eggs is now $4.44 a dozen.
Smith: The biggest factor behind the changes is highly pathogenic avian influenza. However, the current report doesn’t include the birds lost so far in 2025, which means the report doesn’t reflect what consumers are currently seeing at the grocery store.
Nelson: The U.S. lost about 43 million birds in January and February, after this report. Now this is about 25 percent or a quarter of all the birds affected since the outbreak began 2022, and this is not yet captured in this report.
Smith: For more information, go to fb.org. Chad Smith, Washington.

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