# Cage-Free Large White Trades 16 Cents Below Conventional _Sep 29, 2026_ > The national large white benchmark reached 45.0 cents a dozen, up 28.7% on the week. Cage-free large white loose fell to 29.0 cents, now trading 16 cents below conventional. No HPAI detections in 60 days. _Numbers as of Sep 29, 2026 pull._ The national large white benchmark reached **45.0 cents a dozen**, up 28.7% on the week from 35.0 cents, per USDA. Cage-free large white loose moved the opposite direction, falling to 29.0 cents from 37.9 cents and finishing 16.0 cents below conventional, an inversion of 36%. Per USDA's Sep 25 Egg Markets Overview, negotiated prices for loose caged eggs were steady to higher on moderate retail interest. [Chart: National white large shell egg price (loose, ¢/dozen)](https://the-scramble.com/national/large-white) ([data](https://the-scramble.com/national/large-white.md) — chart image: https://the-scramble.com/charts/issues/eggs/2026-09-29/national/large-white.png) - **California cage-free large brown loose**: 80.0 cents/doz, down 31.6% week over week from 117 cents, the largest weekly drop in this issue's data (USDA). - **USDA organic nest run tier 1 brown (national)**: 135 cents/doz, down 25.0% week over week from 180 cents (USDA). - **Large brown conventional loose (national)**: 110 cents/doz, up 15.8% week over week from 95.0 cents (USDA). - **Medium white conventional loose (national)**: 22.2 cents/doz, down 15.7% week over week from 26.3 cents (USDA). - **US shell egg inventory**: 1,452 thousand cases as of Sep 28 (USDA), 1.1% below the trailing four-week average. Northwest conventional stocks at 62.1 thousand cases are 15% below the five-year median, the tightest regional position in this issue's data. Midwest conventional stocks at 570 thousand cases run 17% above the five-year median. - **HPAI (APHIS)**: No confirmed detections in commercial layer flocks in the last 60 days. Disease pressure is absent from the supply picture. *Data note: California cage-free specialty series, including jumbo brown loose delivered, nest run tier 2 brown delivered, nutritionally-enhanced large white and vegetarian-fed large white, have not updated in over two weeks. Figures from those specific series are stale.* --- Canonical URL: https://the-scramble.com/issues/2026-09-29