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Egg farmers are reducing flock sizes or leaving the industry due to running costs making their businesses unviable, a farming industry body has warned.
The British Free Range Egg Producers Association (BFREPA) says many of its members are losing money because of high chicken feed prices and energy costs. Farmers are calling for a 40p rise for a dozen eggs to cover costs.
But supermarkets said they were "constrained" by how much cost they could pass onto customers.
Farmers claim that despite the price of a dozen eggs rising by about 45p in the supermarkets since March, they've only received between 5p to 10p of that increase.
Ioan Humphreys, an egg farmer from Powys in Wales said in a social media video that supermarkets were "refusing" to pay farmers a "fair price" for their produce at a time when costs had "skyrocketed" with feed, electricity and the price of new birds.
"We physically can't afford to produce these eggs. Currently, there have been eight million less free-range hens ordered for next year's flocks," he said.
"So that's just under eight million eggs, every day that we are not going to be producing. We are already three million eggs short of being self-sufficient [as a country]."
Like households, farmers have also been hit by soaring energy costs in recent months.
They have also had to fork more for wheat, a key ingredient in chicken feed, which has spiked as a result of the Ukraine war, with both Russia and Ukraine producing about 30% of the global supply.
As well as rising costs, farmers have been hit by the country's largest-ever avian influenza outbreak, which has led to millions of birds being killed or culled in the past 12 months.
All poultry and captive birds in England are required to be kept indoors, according to government guidelines, which has meant eggs in shops being labeled as "barn eggs" due to birds being kept inside for more than 16 weeks.
Farmers have previously warned the UK could face an egg shortage if retailers do not start paying more.
However, the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said there was "currently no shortage of eggs".
"We understand the difficulties the bird flu outbreak is causing for farmers, however, the laying hen population is approximately 38 million so it's unlikely to affect the overall supply," a statement said.
Source:
Online/SZK
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