Industry History

The United States Egg Industry

The commercial egg industry in the U.S. has grown rapidly over the past 50 years, and its growth reflects the changing needs of our society. Today, just 2 percent of the population lives in farms. This 2 percent produces food for the remaining 98 percent of us. As people moved into cities and suburbs with fewer people raising their own food, the demand for eggs increased while the supply diminished. The modern egg industry was born in response to this demand.

As late as the 1940s, small, backyard flocks of chickens made up the majority of the egg industry. After these chickens had laid a relatively small number of eggs they were consumed for meat. Hens also entered into a natural molt during the winter months and stopped producing eggs. Consumers wanting to purchase eggs during the winter months had to receive them from cold storage, which quite often meant nothing more than simply the farmer’s basement. The eggs could be several weeks old by the time the consumer actually received them.

Backyard chickens, continuously subjected to diseases, freezing, predators, poisoning, and in fighting, had a precarious existence and a normal mortality rate as high as 40 percent per year. Average yearly egg production was little more than 100 eggs per year for each hen and microbes from poultry diseases contaminated many of these eggs.

To meet a growing demand, farmers needed to upgrade their production facilities while keeping in mind the health and welfare of their birds. They also recognized the need to deliver eggs to the market in the most economical manner possible. The modern day cage system was found to be the one system that could meet both requirements. Click here for advantages of cage production.

To a large degree, animal welfare guidelines have been researched by agriculture researchers at universities and have been adopted by the farmers. As a result, today’s farming practices have been shaped by research and innovation.

Today, we would estimate that 98 percent or more of the commercial egg production in the U.S. and an estimated 70 to 80 percent of the world’s egg production are derived from caged layers.

Modern egg farms, operating in a completely free-market system with no government assistance programs or quotas, require large capital investments. While these farms have grown to meet the market demand, they are still family farms – with the owner still on the farm making day-to-day decisions. Only two egg-production companies in the U.S. share ownership with publicly traded stocks.