Poultry farmers: uncertain whether eggs will be for sale at Easter | Financial

The war in Ukraine has increased feed costs for poultry farmers so much that they have to invest money on every egg they produce. If that takes too long, it will be untenable for poultry farmers to continue to supply eggs, warns the interest association LTO Pluimveehouderij/NOP.

“If poultry farmers can’t even earn back the feed costs, then – simply put – the chickens go to slaughter and egg production comes to a standstill. Then you won’t have Dutch eggs on the shelves when it’s Easter,” says De Jong.

Ukraine is an important producer of raw materials for animal feed, says department chair Kees de Jong. Although Dutch poultry farmers do not import much from the Eastern European country itself, the disappearance of Ukrainian raw materials on the world market does result in much more expensive animal feed.

According to LTO Pluimveehouderij/NOP, the price of chicken feed has risen by more than a quarter since the war. Compared to last year, when poultry farmers made contract agreements with supermarkets, the feed price is more than half higher. The cost price of an egg normally consists of 65 percent feed costs.

De Jong realizes that no one wants price increases, now that inflation is very high and the rising energy bill is only increasing. But according to De Jong, it is necessary for supermarkets to pay more to safeguard the production of eggs. “We are making this appeal to the chain anyway because as a poultry farmer you cannot continue to produce fresh eggs every day if you suffer a loss on every egg.”

—