The top 20 U.S. egg producers – according to data from Egg Industry’s Top Egg Company Survey, which is part of WATT Global Media’s database on the world’s leading broiler, turkey and egg producers – are ranked according to the size of their layer flocks at the end of 2019.
Collectively, the top 20 U.S. egg companies for 2020 account for 254.55 million birds, which is a 9.62 million bird increase from 2019.
1. Cal-Maine Foods, 44.99 million hens
The largest producer and marketer of shell eggs in the United States, in fiscal 2019 net sales were $1.36 billion. As of December 31, 2019, Cal-Maine Foods had 44,986,300 laying hens.
The company closed the acquisition of certain assets of Mahard Egg Farm, relating to its commercial shell egg production, processing, distribution and sale of shell eggs business, the company announced on November 20. The acquired assets include commercial shell egg production and processing facilities with capacity for approximately 3.9 million laying hens and permitted capacity for up to 8 million laying hens, a feed mill, pullets and related production facilities located in Chillicothe, Texas, and Nebo, Oklahoma, and a distribution warehouse located in Gordonville, Texas.
Cal-Maine announced its intent to acquire Mahard Egg Farm in October.
A fire destroyed a hen house at a Cal-Maine Foods egg production facility in Chase, Kansas, on November 20. The building was considered a total loss. No injuries were reported, but the building was reported to have had hens inside at the time of the fire. A Cal-Maine general manager told local news station KWCH that the loss was significant for the facility, but not for the company as a whole.
In September, the planning commission of Millard County, Utah, gave approval to plans submitted by Cal-Maine Foods’ Delta Egg Farms, which hopes to expand its facility in the county. During a commission meeting, Delta Egg Farms General Manager Scott Patton explained plans to double and triple the egg production capacity at the facility. The planned expansion would add five buildings to the facility and create between 100 and 125 additional jobs, according to a report from the Millard County Chronicle Progress.
Patton explained the need to expand the capacity there due to an anticipated increase in demand for eggs from cage-free laying systems.
Also in September, Cal-Maine Foods reported a $45.8 million loss for the first quarter of fiscal year 2020, citing costs related to decommissioning some of its older, less efficient production facilities as it continues to invest in facilities for the production of cage-free and other specialty eggs.
The $45.8 million loss is compared with a net income of $12.4 million for the first quarter of fiscal year 2019.
In July, the company reported a net loss of $19.8 million for the fourth quarter of its 2019 fiscal year, which ended June 1. A 36.7% decline in net sales was also reported for the quarter. The net loss for the quarter was a drastic switch from the net income of $71.8 million for the fourth quarter of the 2018 fiscal year. For the full year, Cal-Maine reported a net income of $54.2 million, down substantially from $125.9 million for the 2018 fiscal year.
Net sales for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2019 were $280.6 million, compared with $443.1 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2018. For the fiscal year, net sales were $1.36 billion compared with $1.5 billion for the previous fiscal year.
Other approved expansion projects that were announced in March include adding pullets and cage-free capacity for 1 million hens in Pittsburg, Texas, and building new cage-free pullet housing in Zephyrhills, Florida. The total expenditure for these new expansion projects, including the facility in Utah, is $148 million.
Cal-Maine produces caged brown and white eggs, cage-free white and brown eggs, organic and free-range eggs, as well as specialty products. Most of its shell eggs are sold in the southwestern, southeastern, Midwestern and mid-Atlantic regions of the U.S. Cal-Maine sells shell eggs to most American retailers.
2: Rose Acre Farms, 26.60 million hens
In addition to table eggs, family-owned Rose Acre Farms produces a variety of egg products ranging from liquid eggs and dried eggs to egg protein powder. As of December 31, 2019, it had 26.6 million laying hens.
A class-action lawsuit that claimed a conspiracy to limit the United States egg supply and drive up prices was rejected on December 12, 2019, by a federal jury in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of supermarket chains Kroger, Giant Eagle, Publix, H-E-B, Safeway, Winn-Dixie, Albertsons Cos., Hy-Vee, Walgreens, SuperValu, Roundys and A&P. The plaintiffs alleged that Rose Acre Farms and United Egg Producers (UEP) conspired with others in order to raise shell egg prices, including that the defendants created an animal welfare program -- the UEP Certified program -- as a pretext to raise egg prices.
According to a press release from Porter Wright, the law firm representing Rose Acre Farms, the case dated back to 2008, when various egg buyers filed a class action lawsuit against 13 egg producers.
The jury deliberated for a day and a half before reaching the verdict in favor of the egg industry. UEP hailed the decision.
In October 2019, Seymore, Indiana, newspaper The Tribune reported that, “Rose Acre Farms’ Jen Acre Egg Farm has partnered with the Jennings County Jail, providing inmates an opportunity to gain work experience and financial stability before being released from custody.” Inmates enrolled in the program have the chance to be at the egg farm part time, working in the processing facility and cage-free chicken houses. The idea came from a similar program already going on at Rose Acre Farms’ Iowa locations, the report said.
Also in October, it was reported that Rose Acre farms would provide cage-free eggs to EggLife Foods Inc. for its tortilla product which is grain- and dairy-free.
After the egg recall in 2018, Rose Acre Farms has made many changes to sanitation procedures, equipment and employee protocol to minimize risk at its Hyde County facility in North Carolina. Changes included division of the facility, equipment modifications, staff training and engagement exercises, improvements to the non-food contact areas of the facility, such as the floor and inedible egg area, and many other changes.
In late summer 2019, WATT Global Media sat down with Tony Wesner, chief operating officer of Rose Acre Farms, to discuss updates and changes Rose Acre has made to the facility to minimize the risk of another recall. At the time of the visit, the facility was two-thirds of the way repopulated and expected to be back to full capacity by the end of 2019, with most of the eggs still being sold to retailers.
In August, Unilever reached a deal with Rose Acre Farms in an antitrust lawsuit that alleged egg companies conspired to fix prices. Terms of the settlement were not revealed.
Rose Acre Farms, along with fellow egg companies R.W. Sauder Inc. and Ohio Fresh Eggs LLC, were cleared of the allegations by a Pennsylvania federal jury in 2018.
According to a Law 360 report, the jury at the time concluded that R.W. Sauder and Ohio Fresh Eggs were not involved in any antitrust conspiracy, while Rose Acre Farms was found to have participated in a conspiracy. However, the judge ruled that Rose Acre being part of what was a conspiracy was not enough to find the company liable.
That case was appealed, but has not been decided on. Oral arguments on that appeal are likely to take place in Spring or in the Summer of 2020. No settlement has been reached in this case concerning Rose Acre Farms.
On March 25, 2019, Rose Acre Farms’ new laboratory to test samples from the company’s flocks was used for the first time. The laboratory is in a building it purchased two years ago near its corporate office in Seymour, Indiana, replacing the old lab near its former headquarters near Cortland, Indiana, reported the Seymour Tribune.
In January 2019, after a renovation of the building, equipment was brought in. At the facility, samples from Rose Acre Farms’ layer, breeder and pullet farms are tested for Salmonella enteritidis and other pathogens.
Also in January 2019, Rose Acre Farms continued an annual tradition by raising money to purchase gifts for local nursing home residents.
3: Versova Holdings LLC, 21.10 million hens
Versova Holdings was formed in 2016. It is comprised of Centrum Valley Farms, Trillium Farms and Iowa Cage Free. As of December 31, 2019, the company’s layer flock included 21.1 million laying hens. It produces caged and cage-free white and brown eggs, along with liquid egg products.
4: Hillandale Farms, 20.00 million hens
Founded in 1958, Hillandale Farms is one of the U.S.’s leading suppliers of shell eggs. It has production facilities in the Northeast, Midwest and Southeast and supplies retailers and distributors throughout the eastern U.S. Along with eggs, the company also offers butter, cheese, meats and breads. It is an Eggland’s Best franchisee. As of December 31, 2019, it had 20 million laying hens.
In December 2019, two companies providing temporary workers for a Hillandale Farms plant in Bozrah, Connecticut, were fined by the Connecticut Department of Labor’s Wage and Workplace Standards Division. Five Brothers 1, based in Sunbury, Pennsylvania, and Whitmore Poultry, based in Orange, Massachusetts, admitted to improperly classifying workers as independent contractors for their work at the Hillandale facility, the labor agency stated in a press release. Both companies provided hundreds of workers for Hillandale.
Five Brothers 1 was fined $180,600, while Whitmore Poultry was fined $90,000. Hillandale Farms was not fined, because the Connecticut law holds the employer of record responsible, rather than the company that hired the subcontractors.
5: Daybreak Foods, 14.00 million hens
Daybreak Foods Inc. is privately held and is involved in shell egg and egg products production. It produces conventional white eggs and liquid egg products. As of December 31, 2019, it had 14 million laying hens.
In April 2019, it was reported that Daybreak Foods’ construction of a new egg production complex in Lake Mills, Wisconsin, was progressing, with three new pullet buildings populated and processing equipment starting to arrive at the new plant, which had been erected.
The plant was expected to be running in July 2019.
On July 24, 2019, the founder of Daybreak Foods, Robert C. Rehm, died at age 83. He started the egg company in 1965.
In September, the Lake Mills Town Board in Lake Mills, Wisconsin, approved an under-the-road permit for Daybreak Foods, but failed to reach an agreement on allowing the egg company the permit needed for an over-the-road feed conveyor.
The plans for both permits were previously approved by the planning commission, but only the under-the-road permits, which are for water, wastewater and communication lines, were approved by the town board.
6: Michael Foods, 13.30 million hens
Michael Foods Inc. is a leading food processor and distributor with business in egg products as well as refrigerated grocery and potato products. The company is the largest supplier of processed eggs in the world. The company is owned by Post Holdings Inc., which purchased it from GS Capital Partners for $2.45 billion in 2014. As of December 31, 2019, it had 13.3 million laying hens.
Post Holdings, parent company of egg products company Michael Foods, reported a net loss for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2019. The diversified food company reported a net loss of $61.1 million for the quarter, compared with a net loss of $17.6 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2018. For the full 2019 fiscal year, Michael Foods posted net earnings of $121.7 million, a decline from the fiscal year 2018 net earnings of 457.3 million. The fiscal year for Post Holdings ended on September 30.
The foodservice segment, which primarily involves egg and potato products, saw its net sales rise 4.5% on a year-over-year basis to $417.6 million. Volumes increased 3.7%, driven by increases of 4.2% in egg volumes, the company said in a press release. The segment’s profits also rose to $39.8 million, a 4.7% improvement when compared with the same quarter of fiscal year 2018. For the full year, the foodservice segment saw its net sales increase 5.1% and its profit rise 25.9% when compared with 2018.
Michael Foods’ new egg processing facility in Norwalk, Iowa, opened in October 2019. The 150,000-square-foot facility, which processes eggs and precooked egg products, is anticipated to add 168 jobs to Norwalk within its first two years and is located at Iowa’s first Certified Industrial Site, operating at full business capacity.
Michael Foods was a recipient of the 2019 Economic Impact Award presented by the Greater Des Moines Partnership. The award honors Des Moines businesses that demonstrate a meaningful impact on the local economy. It was awarded in anticipation of what new jobs at the Norwalk, Iowa, facility would mean to the Iowa economy.
In August 2019, Michael Foods made a $50,000 donation to Humpty Dumpty Daycare in Wakefield, Nebraska to create an expansion on the north side of the daycare. The nearly 2,000 square foot expansion will add a few daycare rooms, a kitchen space, and a breakroom for the employees. Brady Weaver, an operations manager with Michael Foods, told local newstation KTIV that child care was one of the three main reasons the company had troubles staffing its facility near the daycare. Weaver added that, by helping the daycare, the company was hoping its employees wouldn’t have to leave town due to daycare.
7: Rembrandt Enterprises, 11.90 million hens
Based in Spirit Lake, Iowa, Rembrandt Enterprises, doing business as Rembrandt Foods, is a vertically integrated egg products company that manages the entire process from grain to finished product. It is one of the largest egg ingredient producers in the U.S. and works with international customers as well to reach a global market.
The company supplies egg ingredients to food manufacturers, foodservice and pet food manufacturers to be included in products like mayonnaise, sauces, baked goods, confections, pasta, bars, nutritional beverages and prepared foods.
The company offers a line of cage-free products including but not limited to frozen egg products, dried egg products and liquid egg. Since 2009, it has worked with customers in the cage-free market to meet their requests.
In November, Rembrandt Foods announced it was closing its egg plant in Renville, Minnesota. That plant processed liquid egg products from conventional hen housing at the facility, which employed 52 people in Renville.
Rembrandt Foods President Paul Hardy told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune that the company is considering using the cost savings from closing the Renville plant to increase its cage-free capacity.
As of December 31, 2019, the company’s layer flock included 11.9 million hens.
8: MPS Egg Farms, 10.90 million hens
MPS Egg Farms, previously known as Midwest Poultry Services, is an Indiana-based shell egg producer for the retail market. It is a sixth-generation family-owned business that employs 550. As of December 31, 2019, the company’s layer flock included 10.9 million hens.
The company produces conventional white eggs, cage-free eggs, free-range eggs, organic eggs and nutritionally enhanced eggs. According to the company website, it produces 5 million eggs per day and has a delivery range of more than 2,000 miles.
9: Prairie Star Farms, 10.80 million hens
Prairie Star Farms markets the combined egg production of Rindler Poultry, Ross-Medford Farms, Hoosier Pride and J Star Farms. The company raises eggs that are produced under animal care standards to meet all cage-free, California Shell Egg Food Safety Compliant and enriched colony housing regulations. As of December 31, 2019, the company’s layer flock included 10.8 million laying hens.
9: Center Fresh Group, 10.80 million hens
Center Fresh Group is comprised of Center Fresh Egg Farm, Sioux County Egg Farm and Hawkeye Pride. As of December 31, 2019, the company’s layer flock included 10.8 million hens. Center Fresh produces conventionally raised and cage-free eggs as well as liquid egg products.
11: Herbruck's Poultry Ranch, 8.60 million hens
Herbruck’s Poultry Ranch Inc. is Michigan’s largest egg farm. As a fully integrated business, Herbruck’s is involved in breeding, agriculture, feed and fertilizer production. The company also partners with 25 small farms to produce organic and cage-free eggs.
On December 3, 2019, the company opened Herbruck’s Employee Wellness Clinic, a new on-site wellness clinic that offers free preventative health care services for Herbruck’s employees and their dependents.
In September 2019, The Michigan Agri-Business Association (MABA) honored Stephen, Greg and Herb Herbruck, of Herbruck’s Poultry Ranch, with its 2019 Leaders and Legends award at the association’s Outlook Conference on Mackinac Island.
On June 13, 2019, the company announced it was moving forward with construction of its sustainable cage-free egg-laying facility in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, situated on 335 acres. Herbruck’s announced its plans in 2016 to build a facility in the area. There will be nine barns to house birds. The facility will use manure-handling technology that processes hen litter into organic fertilizer on-site. This should drastically reduce odors, minimize flies considerably and provides a nutrient-rich organic fertilizer for local farmers.
Once the Mercersburg facility is operational, about 200 people are expected to be employed there.
About 250,000 hens were killed in a Herbruck’s Poultry Ranch barn fire in Ionia County, Michigan, on April 30, 2019. Herbruck’s Poultry Ranch, in a statement to local news station WLNS, said the company was fully operational on May 1, and that it plans to rebuild the damaged facility.
In January, Herbruck’s Poultry Ranch was among a group of 780 businesses to be awarded training grants from the state of Michigan. The grants were offered through the Talent and Economic Development Department of Michigan, from the Going PRO Talent Fund. Herbruck’s was the recipient of a $214,800 grant.
The company was founded more than 60 years ago by Marilyn and Harry Herbruck Jr. in Saranac, Michigan (Ionia County), where the company still has its headquarters. As of December 31, 2019, the company’s layer flock included 8.6 million hens. Herbruck’s produces white and brown conventionally raised eggs, cage-free eggs, organic eggs and nutritionally enhanced eggs. It also produces liquid egg products, consumer packed and institutional or bulk packaged egg products.
12: Weaver Brothers, 8.55 million hens
Established in 1929, Weaver Brothers Inc. is a fourth-generation family farm still owned and managed by the founding family with the fourth generation of the family now working in Versailles, Ohio. The company is fully integrated, featuring grain production, a feed mill, and egg production and processing. The company offers organic, cage-free, hard-cooked and liquid egg whites. In November 2019, the company introduced its own private label free-range eggs, Miss Molly’s. The eggs are named after current President and CEO, Tim Weaver’s daughter, Molly, who recently returned to the family farm as a fourth-generation member. As of December 31, 2019, the company’s layer flock included 8.55 million hens.
13: Opal Foods, 7.79 million hens
Opal Foods, an entity created by Visalia, California, private equity fund AGR Partners, was launched in May 2014 with the acquisition of Moark’s Midwest operations. As of December 31, 2019, it had 7.79 million laying hens.
The company has more than 250 employees, most of which are in the Neosho, Missouri, area. The company specializes in all-natural, cage-free, organic and all-natural eggs with omega-3s. Opal Foods also provides Land O’Lakes with brown eggs.
14: Fremont Farms of Iowa, 7.06 million hens
Fremont Farms of Iowa is a producer and processor of liquid egg products. As of December 31, 2019, its layer flock included 7.06 million hens.
15: Kreider Farms, 6.08 million hens
The Kreider family, under the third-generation leadership of Ron Kreider, and a staff of approximately 475 people, operates a farming business encompassing approximately 3,000 acres. The dairy and egg operations, which house 1,700 dairy cows and 6 million chickens, supply retail and wholesale customers with milk, ice cream and eggs.
Kreider Farms supplies shell eggs to supermarkets and wholesalers in the northeastern United States and sells cage-free eggs under the Noah’s Pride and Kreider brand. It also sells hard-cooked eggs. Kreider is the largest egg producer in Pennsylvania with facilities in Mount Joy, Manheim, Middletown and Mount Pleasant. As of December 31, 2019, it had 6.08 million laying hens.
The company aims to be a sustainable farm by minimizing its carbon footprint. The Manheim Facility has 3,226 solar panels (67,000 square feet) installed on its roof. These panels generate approximately 1.1 million kilowatts of clean, renewable energy each year.
In August 2019, Kreider Farms announced the launch of its new line of unique hemp iced tea drinks — Chiques Creek Hemp Tea. These specialty beverage products are available in select regional retail outlets and online.
Kreider produces white and brown, conventionally raised and cage-free, organic and nutritionally enhanced eggs.
16: ISE America, 5.80 million hens
ISE America Inc. is an integrated egg laying and production operation. As of December 31, 2019, it had 5.8 million layers, as well as its own feed mill and shell egg processing plants. It also performs further egg processing, including fresh frozen eggs, liquid eggs and hard-cooked eggs.
The company is a subsidiary of ISE Inc., headquartered in Japan. ISE Inc. entered the chicken genetics and breeding industries in Japan in 1912.
During the November 6, 2019, webinar, “Steps for Success: Your NPIP Biosecurity Audit,” Dr. Kristi Scott, ISE America staff veterinarian and HACCP manager, explained how the company adheres to the National Poultry Improvement Plan (NPIP) biosecurity principles. Among some of her 14 points were explanations of biosecurity responsibility, staff training, line of separation, pests, equipment and vehicles.
17: Hickman's Egg Ranch, 5.60 million hens
Founded in 1944, Hickman’s Egg Ranch, also known as Hickman’s Family Farms, is a family-owned business with hens in Arizona and Colorado, distribution operations in Iowa, Nevada and California, and customers from Iowa to Hawaii. As of December 31, 2019, the company’s layer flock included 5.6 million hens.
On April 4, Hickman’s Family Farms suffered the loss of a new barn at its egg production facility in Tonopah, Arizona. Because the barn was new, it had not yet been populated, and birds were not expected to arrive there for another six weeks.
Company President Glenn Hickman said in an email to WATT Global Media that a few birds in a nearby barn may have suffered from smoke inhalation, but the only production losses would be from the disruption of feed, lights and water for a few hours and the incident was not expected to have any impact on Hickman’s customers.
Hickman’s packages eggs in polyethylene terephthalate, known commonly as PET, the clear plastic used for water and soda bottle containers. The company recycles more than 1 million water bottles weekly for its packaging.
Hickman’s has partnerships with Central Valley Eggs and Colorado Eggs.
18: Sparboe Farms, 5.58 million hens
Started in 1954, Sparboe Farms started as a day-old chick company and has grown during the past 60 years to become a major shell egg producer and marketer in the United States. Its subsidiary Sparboe Foods provides egg products. The company also owns Agri-Tech, which produces premixes for lower feed cost.
In May 2019, Sparboe Farms sold its egg products plant in New Hampton, Iowa, to Deb El Food Products, the companies announced. Liquid, frozen and dried egg products are produced at the plant. Workers at the New Hampton facility will now be employees of Deb El Food Products.
The company offers a broad platform of white and specialty eggs in a variety of packaging options, along with vegetarian-fed brown eggs, cage-free brown eggs and organic eggs. As of December 31, 2019, it had 5.58 million laying hens.
19: Gemperle Farms, 5.10 million hens
Gemperle Farms produces all varieties of eggs from enriched colony barn eggs to specialty eggs such as browns, organic, cage free, omega-3 and cage-free fertile. All of the company’s eggs are produced without hormones or antibiotics. In April 2019, Gemperle Farms topped the 8 million mark for eggs donated to local charities since the 2000. Each week, thousands of Gemperle eggs go to lunch programs, local nonprofits, food banks and food pantries.
Gemperle Family Farms donates between 350,000 and 500,000 eggs each year. More than 75% of those eggs go to United Samaritans Foundation and its affiliates, Hilmar Helping Hands, Turlock Together and Salvation Army.
In May 2019, it announced it would be expanding its philanthropic giving in the areas of preservation of natural ecosystems and the diversity of plant and animal species. As of December 31, 2019, the company’s layer flock included 5.1 million hens.
20: Sunrise Farms Inc., 5.00 million hens
Sunrise Farms Inc. is an Iowa egg producer owned by Sonstegard Foods. The parent company produces and markets shell eggs as well as liquid, frozen and powdered egg products. Sonstegard Food Group is third-generation family owned and has operations in six states.
WATTAgNet reported in August that a jury trial for a case in which Sunrise Farms Inc. sued companies hired by the U.S. government to depopulate and disinfect its premises near Harris, Iowa, after a 2015 highly pathogenic avian influenza infection has been scheduled for November 30, 2020.
The trial was previously scheduled for January 27, 2020, at the Osceloa County District Court in Sibley, Iowa. Federal court documents reveal that Sunrise Farms claims the chlorine dioxide gas and heat treatments used to kill the highly pathogenic H5N2 avian influenza on its premises destroyed barn equipment, electrical wiring, various production equipment and waterlines and diminished the structural integrity of the operation’s barns.
Sunrise also claimed the defendants were negligent and breached their contracts. Sunrise Farms seeks to be fully compensated for its losses, interest, accrued late charges and the cost of its lawsuit.
The original lawsuit was filed in May 2019.
As of December 31, 2019, its layer flock included 5 million hens.
20: Cooper Farms, 5.00 million hens
Cooper Farms is a family owned, vertically integrated turkey company that is also involved in egg and pork production. It was founded in 1938 as a 500-bird turkey farm. All its operations are based in Ohio. As of December 31, 2019, it had 5 million laying hens.
In June 2019, the Cooper Family Foundation presented the 2019 V.H. Cooper Scholarship to 24 graduating students from area schools. The V.H. Cooper Scholarship was first presented in 1986 as a way for the Cooper family to continue recognizing Virgil Cooper’s generosity to the surrounding communities and organizations, especially those involving children and students.
In March 18, 2019, Cooper Farms finalized its asset acquisition of Hemmelgarn & Sons Inc., helping to further grow the egg portion of its business. The purchase included an offline egg grading and packaging plant, located in Philothea, Ohio; a feed mill, located in Union City, Ohio; 1.6 million hens cared for by 12 contract farmers; as well as a trucking fleet and nearly 300 acres of land.
CW Egg Products in Fort Recovery, Ohio, held an open house on February 26, 2019, to celebrate the completion of its expansion, which allows them to explore more processing and packing options and gives them the ability to pasteurize liquid egg in-house.
“This allows us to give individual focus to what the customer wants and not have to sell our eggs to a further processor for that to happen,” said Jeff Cutler, general manager of the egg division at Cooper Farms, in a company press release.
