2120 final report.pdf - Agra CEAS Consulting

APPENDIX 2: THIRD COUNTRIES(85% of production), animal rights groups continue to press for additional changes. Partially inresponse to this pressure, the United Egg Producers has added a new feed alternative for inducingmolt to its Guidelines. Since the removal of feed continues to be viewed as a superior approach bymany experts, it would be surprising if many growers opt for the new alternative. Furtherrefinements in the industry’s approach to animal welfare can be expected nonetheless.It should be noted that the US voluntary programme has probably reached the ceiling it is likely toachieve in terms of participation particularly since prices have been falling recently.A2.4.4.4. Niche marketsMany producers are responding to the perceived opportunity to provide speciality eggs for nichemarkets. Some of these products are differentiated by the nutritional profile of the egg and some bythe practices used in their production. A recent story in the Wall Street Journal listed the followingterms as applied to various of these ‘designer eggs’: Omega 3 DHA/omega 3 Lutein Cage-free Free-range Certified organic No hormones No antibioticsIt remains uncertain if speciality eggs will capture a significant share of the market. The President ofHy-Line International, the leading breeder of layers, recently said that he does not anticipate that themarket would justify the development of strains for these characteristics.A2.4.4.5. ConsolidationFirm consolidation throughout the industry continues to be an issue, with no end in sight. Despitethe continuing rapid drop in the number of producers and the continuing industrialisation of eggproduction, the egg industry is not highly concentrated relative to many other U.S. industries. Thus,while the list of major players and their relative positions will continue to change, most of the changewill occur among smaller operations as they go out of business. Concentration at the top haschanged comparatively little in recent years. For example, the top four firms accounted for 23.4% ofthe layer flock in 1999 and 23.7% in 2003. Likewise, the number of producing firms with layer flocksof at least 1 million has held steady at 55 to 60 for more than 20 years.A2.4.4.6. Spent hen utilisationWhile spent hen utilisation is less important than some of the other issues confronting the industry,it has become an increasingly more costly problem. Prior to 1996, spent hens were sold to food387