# Cage-Free Large White Falls to 95 Cents, Premium Inverts to Minus 9.4 Cents _Aug 4, 2026_ > National cage-free large white loose shed 31.8% to 95.0 cents a dozen, falling 9.4 cents below the 104-cent conventional benchmark. California cage-free moved the opposite way, up 17.5% to 140 cents. _Numbers as of Aug 4, 2026 pull._ The national conventional large white benchmark (USDA) stands at **104 cents a dozen** as of August 4. Against that, the national cage-free large white loose series fell to **95.0 cents**, down 31.8% on the week from 139 cents, leaving cage-free priced **9.4 cents below conventional**. No attributed driver for the cage-free move appears in the USDA data this week. [Chart: National brown extra large shell egg price (loose, ¢/dozen)](https://the-scramble.com/national/extra-large-brown) ([data](https://the-scramble.com/national/extra-large-brown.md) — chart image: https://the-scramble.com/charts/national/extra-large-brown/chart.png) - **California cage-free large white loose, 140 cents (USDA):** up 17.5% week over week from 119 cents, moving sharply opposite the national cage-free print. - **Medium white cage-free national loose, 40.0 cents:** up 14.3% week over week from 35.0 cents. - **New York large white delivered store door, 148 cents:** up 2.1% on the week from 145 cents. Extra large white at 150 cents, up 2.0% from 147 cents. - **Northwest conventional shell egg inventory, 62.7 thousand cases (USDA):** 18% below the 5-year median, the furthest below normal in the digest, despite a 17.9% rise in cases on the week. - **Northeast inventory, 223 thousand cases:** 19% above the 5-year median, up 8.9% on the week. Midwest at 532 thousand cases, 9% above its 5-year median. **Supply:** US shell egg inventory totaled 1,454 thousand cases as of August 3 (USDA), 1.7% above the trailing 4-week average. A 1.2 million-hen layer flock in Utah was confirmed infected on July 6, per APHIS. No additional egg-sector detections appear in the APHIS 60-day record. **Retail:** 602 stores featured national large white (12-count) at $1.23 the week of July 27, per USDA. **Data note:** 58 California series have not updated in more than two weeks. The California cage-free large white at 140 cents reflects a current week-over-week reading; other California-specific series should be treated as stale. --- Canonical URL: https://the-scramble.com/issues/2026-08-04