The 2023 Top Egg Company Survey estimates that the 67 largest U.S. egg producers had 328.93 million hens housed on December 31, 2022, 15.79 million less than the 344.72 million hens reported in the 2022 survey. The Top Egg Company survey is conducted annually, and the results reported are comprised of a combination of company-submitted information and estimates made based on input from publicly reported information and industry sources. Companies are ranked based on the number of hens housed on December 31.
The Top Egg Company Survey report estimates that there are 19.93 million more hens housed in the U.S. than does the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The November 21, 2022, USDA Chicken and Eggs Report estimated that the U.S. had 309 million table egg-laying hens housed on November 1, 2022, down 5.5% from the estimated 326.97 million head housed on November 1, 2021.
According to the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), 38.3 million table egg layers, or 11.2%, have been depopulated due to highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in 2022. The 2014-2015 HPAI outbreak caused the loss of 43 million table egg layers and pullets.
According to the December 2022 Monthly USDA Cage-Free Shell Egg Report, 106.8 million layers are housed in cage-free systems in the U.S, a decrease from January’s 2022 value of 111.1 million, before the HPAI outbreak began.
Cal-Maine Foods, the largest egg producer in the U.S., said that it believed the HPAI outbreak might affect the U.S. cage-free conversion rate. Because many companies are working toward increasing their cage-free production to satisfy customer pledges and housing legislation, the need to schedule construction and remodel houses could discourage producers from repopulating flocks as quickly as some may expect.
4 of top 5 egg producer flocks shrank in 2022
Almost all of the top five egg producers in the U.S. saw reductions their layer flock size, according to the 2022 and 2023 Top Egg Company Surveys.
Cal-Maine Foods remains the largest egg producer in the country with a reported 43.97 million layers housed, a 6% reduction compared to last year. Rose Acre Farms is estimated to have 25.07 million layers housed, a 9.1% decrease from last year’s survey, and is the nation’s second largest egg producer. Hillandale Farms reported 17.75 million layers, a reduction of 11.3% from last year, and is the third largest U.S. egg producer.
Daybreak Foods moved from being the fifth largest egg producer in 2022 to the fourth in 2023 due to its acquisition of Konos Inc. The buyout increased its layer flock to 17 million, a 17.4% increase from last year. Versova Holdings reported 16.95 million layers, a reduction of 3 million, or 15% compared with last year’s survey, ranking it as the fifth largest producer.
In total, the top 5 egg producers in the U.S. house approximately 120.74 million birds, or 36.7% of the total the U.S. layer flock.
Top 10 still house majority of US layers
The 10 largest U.S. egg producers had 174.94 million layers in this year’s survey, down 5.97 million from last year. In total, the top 10 U.S. egg producers housed 53.2% of the total U.S. table egg-laying flock in this year’s survey, essentially unchanged from last year. The egg producers ranked sixth through 10th have a combined 2.09 million more layers housed this year compared with last year.
MPS Foods is the sixth largest egg producer with 12.1 million layers housed, up one million from last year’s survey, in which it was the eighth largest producer. Center Fresh Group reduced its flock by 500,000 hens and remains in seventh place in the rankings with 12 million layers.
Prairie Star Farms increased its layer flock by 1.1 million hens, boosting its ranking to eighth place with 10.4 million hens. Herbruck’s Poultry Ranch reported 9.9 million layers and ranks in ninth place this year, earning a spot in the top 10 with a 1.6 million bird increase. Michael Foods fell to 10th place with 9.8 million layers after a 2.11 million-bird reduction from selling Williamette Egg Farm. It previously had 11.91 million layers and placed sixth in last year’s survey.
11 to 20
Even though Gemperle Family Farms increased its layer flock by 350,000, it fell from its top 10 ranking last year to 11th place this year. Weaver Brothers added 150,000 layers to its flock, putting it at 12th place in this year’s rankings.
Opal Foods, with 7.52 million layers housed, fell to 13th in the rankings after reducing its flock by 870,000. Mid-States Specialty Eggs added almost half a million layers, ranking 14th in this year’s survey. Sauder’s Eggs fell to 15th place with 6.42 million layers.
Cooper Farms added 1.85 million layers this year with the addition of its Golden Heritage Cage-Free Egg Farm, putting it at 16th place with 6.18 million birds. Krieder Farms and Hickman’s Egg Ranch reported no changes from last year and rank at 17th and 18th, respectively. Fremont Farms of Iowa increased its layer flock by 200,000, ranking at 19th this year. Hidden Villa Ranch rounds out 2023’s top 20 egg producers with no changes reported from last year’s survey.
The market share for the top 20 U.S. egg producers increased slightly from last year to more than 73% of the total.
