Layer numbers continue to lag year-earlier levels

Layer numbers continue remain below year-earlier levels, USDA’s August Chicken and Eggs report shows. Table egg type layers on Aug. 1 at 280.7 million were 1 percent below year-earlier levels, with egg type hatching layers also 1 percent below Aug. 1, 2006.

Of the top 10 egg-producing states, only two states, Iowa, and California, showed increases in table egg layer numbers in flocks of 30,000 and above.

Here’s how the top-10 looked during July in layer numbers: Iowa, up 3 percent; Ohio, down 6 percent; Pennsylvania, down 6 percent; Indiana, down 1 percent; California, up 1 percent; Texas, down 2 percent, Nebraska, down 8 percent; Florida, down 1 percent; Minnesota, down 4 percent; and Georgia, no change.