Midwestern Egg Prices Plunge 93% to 25 Cents a Dozen, Squeezing Farmers

1 articles · Updated · Farm Bureau News · May 13

Midwestern producers got just 25 cents per dozen for large white shell eggs in the week ended May 8, down $3.19 from a year earlier, as egg supplies recovered and HPAI cases declined.
April production costs were about 79 cents per dozen, leaving shell-egg farmers 44 cents below break-even that month; at May prices, costs were roughly triple revenue.
Breaker eggs fell even further, averaging 8.73 cents per dozen in April, a steeper collapse in the lower-margin market that many smaller farms are forced to use.
Farmers' share of the retail egg dollar dropped to 37.6 cents in January-March 2026 from a record 82.8 cents in 2025, underscoring how quickly profits evaporated after last year's price spike.
The slump highlights a structural risk in the egg industry: without futures, insurance or other hedging tools, producers remain fully exposed to violent price swings.

Could this historic price crash for shell eggs permanently accelerate the industry's shift towards more stable, processed egg products?

Farmers get 25 cents while eggs cost dollars. Who is capturing the profit in the middle of this market collapse?

With farmers facing bankruptcy, will this crisis finally force the creation of a modern financial safety net for the US egg industry?