The IFA held an emergency meeting of egg producers in Cavan last week amid mounting pressure at farm level. Producers are now weighing up whether they should place orders for another flock of pullets or not.
IFA National Poultry Chairman Nigel Sweetnam is calling on retailers to pass back 2c per egg immediately to be ring-fenced for producers who need to alleviate the cost pressures on farms.
“An increase in price to cover the cost of feed has been received by most egg producers. However, other costs have not been covered. We need immediate action to ensure the survival of our egg sector,” he said.
Egg producers have had significant increases in their non-feed costs including replacement pullets, electricity, labour, fuel, litter disposal, and shavings/bedding that have pushed producers’ margins into negative territory.
The IFA Poultry Committee has been campaigning nationally to recover costs for poultry farmers since October last year.
Vice Chair of the Poultry Committee Brendan Soden said producers are frustrated and are requesting urgent action on this matter. IFA has followed up with retailers to highlight the urgency of the situation.
Fun fact
There are more than 350 million laying hens in the European Union, according to the European Commission. The laying hens produce close to 6.7 million tonnes of eggs each year.