Fears of Christmas egg shortages amid farmers' rising costs and avian flu outbreak

Farmers are warning Britain could have run out of eggs by Christmas as a result of rising costs and the ongoing outbreak of avian flu.

The British Free Range Egg Producers Association (BFREPA) warned in March that the biggest avian flu outbreak on record could see festive shortages of eggs nationwide.

But now the group says a third of hen farmers surveyed earlier this month have either “reduced their flock sizes, paused production temporarily or left the industry altogether”.

They say that the cost of feeding hens has gone up by at least 50%, while the price of fuel has increased by 30%.

And despite eggs going up by around 45p across supermarkets and other retailers, the extra money isn’t being passed on to farmers.

“In March we asked for a 40p per dozen rise in egg prices at retail level, and for the additional money to be passed down the chain to producers,” a spokesperson said.

“While egg prices have risen by about 45p per dozen, many farmers have only received 5 to 10p of that rise.

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“Many of our members are losing money on every egg laid, and our data shows that even those who are making a small profit do not see a long-term future.

“Fewer hens means fewer eggs and we warned in March that eggs could be in short supply by Christmas. On top of this, avian influenza has resulted in the culling of laying hens too.”

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Bird flu was declared in Britain earlier this year, with a prevention zone implemented across the whole country by officials.

As a result, keepers are legally required to keep their birds indoors and follow strict biosecurity measures to limit the spread and eradicate the disease.

Many infected birds have had to be culled, reducing capacity for egg production.

Shoppers face limits on egg sales per customer

The National Farmers Union (NFU) described the egg sector being under “immense pressure”.

“Some poultry producers have been facing skyrocketing energy and feed costs for months now, as well as increases in other input costs including fuel, labour and packaging which are all adding to the overall costs of production on farm,” its poultry board chair James Mottershead said.

“We are exploring all avenues to ensure farmers have the confidence they need to continue supplying British eggs to meet demand from shoppers.”

Director of food and sustainability at the British Retail Consortium, Andrew Opie, said that avian flu “has disrupted the supply of some egg ranges” and that “some stores” have introduced temporary limits on egg sales per customer.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), said that with 38 million laying hens nationwide it believes the “impact on overall supply would likely be minimal”.

But a spokesperson added: “We understand the difficulties that rising costs combined with the bird flu outbreak are causing for farmers and we are working with industry to monitor the egg market.”

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