Large Brown Cage-Free Loose Jumps 43% to 20 Cents a Dozen

The USDA national large white benchmark sits at 23.7 cents a dozen this week, with cage-free large white loose at 23.0 cents, 0.7 cents below conventional and a -3% inverted premium. Brown cage-free products moved sharply in the same period: large brown cage-free loose up 43% to 20.0 cents a dozen per USDA from 14.0 cents, and extra large brown cage-free loose up 29% to 45.0 cents from 35.0 cents. APHIS has logged no commercial egg-layer detections in 60 days, and Northwest conventional inventory sits 38% below its five-year median per USDA.

• Extra large white cage-free loose (national), 29.2 ¢/doz: up 22% on the week per USDA, from 24.0 cents.
• Nest run tier 1 brown pasture-raised loose (national), 40.0 ¢/doz: up 25% on the week per USDA, from 32.0 cents.
• California-market large white cage-free loose, 118 ¢/doz: up 24% on the week per USDA, from 95.0 cents. The California-market premium is wide relative to national cage-free prices this week.
• Northwest conventional total inventory, 46.2 thousand cases per USDA: 38% below the five-year median and 13% below the prior week. The tightest regional read in the data.
• Midwest conventional total inventory, 543 thousand cases per USDA: 21% above its five-year median. Regional supply is split.
• US total shell egg inventory, 1,422 thousand cases as of June 15 per USDA: 4.4% below the trailing four-week average, a lean national read.

Retail feature data for the week of June 15 shows 384 stores advertising national large white 12-count cartons at $1.40 per USDA.

Data note: 55 series, concentrated in California, have not updated in over two weeks. California figures not appearing in this week's movers should be treated as stale.