The 2021 Top Egg Company Survey published in January 2021 included 68 companies in its rankings. Year-over-year, the top 10 companies in the list showed four ranking changes, and, similar to the prior year, the companies on the list with the 10 smallest layer flocks saw more change than the top of the list, with only one company remaining in the same ranking spot.
The 10 smallest layer flocks of the top US egg producers
For the 2021 survey (layer flock size as of December 31, 2020), only one company, Chino Valley Ranchers/MCM Poultry, remained in the same ranking position among the 10 companies with the smallest layer flocks on the list. And only two of those companies, Chino Valley Ranchers/MCM Poultry and Sunrise Farms L.L.C., recorded the same size layer flock year-over-year at 850,000 and 500,000, respectively.
Top US egg producers: 10 smallest layer flocks, ranked by million hens
1. Hertzfeld Poultry Farms Inc.: 1.20
2. Chino Valley Ranchers/MCM Poultry: 0.85
3. Wilcox Farms: 0.74
4. Colorado Eggs: 0.69
5. Hillside Poultry Farms, Inc.: 0.61
6. The Happy Egg Co.: 0.60
6. Vital Farms: 0.60
8. Weber Family Farms: 0.54
9. Sunrise Farms L.L.C.: 0.50
10. Demler Egg Ranch: 0.33
While two of the 10 smallest companies on the list recorded the same layer flock sizes year-over-year, four have a larger flock size and four have smaller flocks. One company within the smallest 10, The Happy Egg Co., is an addition to the rankings this year, with a layer flock size of 600,000.
Year-over-year, Hertzfeld Poultry Farms and Hillside Poultry Farms each moved up one spot; Wilcox Farms and Colorado Eggs swapped positions; and at the bottom of the list, Weber Family Farms, Sunrise Farms L.L.C. and Demler Egg Ranch all moved down one spot in the rankings.
Hidden Villa Ranch moved up significantly in the rankings to about the middle of the list at #33. Feather Crest, which was acquired by MPS Egg Farms in April 2020, was folded into the flock size for MPS. A significant production increase moved Vital Farms up several spots in the rankings.
For more Top Companies insights, access the Top Poultry Companies database to look up individual company profiles or sort by region or product type. The database offers information on companies’ layer flock sizes, geographic markets served and key product categories for egg producers throughout the world.
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Annual Top Egg Company Survey
The Top Egg Company Survey includes rankings of the top egg producers in the U.S. Additional data sets in the 2021 issue include egg producers’ predictions of how hens will be housed in 2025, conversion of cage housing to cage free in 2020 and 2021, amount of new housing being built for layers, and COVID-19 impacts on egg production facilities that are expected to continue post-pandemic.
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