# Benchmark Drops 14% to 39.5 Cents on Broad White-Egg Softness _Oct 13, 2026_ > The national large white benchmark fell to 39.5 cents a dozen, down 14.1% on the week. Jumbo white conventional loose led the drop at 34.7% to 22.0 cents. Cage-free large white at 25.0 cents now trades below conventional. _Numbers as of Oct 13, 2026 pull._ The national large white benchmark fell to **39.5 cents a dozen**, down 14.1% from 46.0 cents on the week (USDA). The decline ran across every conventional white size tracked nationally. Per USDA's Oct. 9 Egg Markets Overview, negotiated wholesale prices moved steady to lower on moderate retail interest and light to moderate loose-egg demand. [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/national/large-white/chart.png) - **Jumbo white conventional loose** led all national series, falling 34.7% week over week from 33.7 cents to **22.0 cents a dozen** (USDA). - **Medium white conventional loose** fell 23.0% from 35.6 cents to **27.4 cents a dozen** (USDA). - **Extra large white conventional loose** declined 20.7% from 41.7 cents to **33.1 cents a dozen** (USDA). - **Large white cage-free loose** dropped 21.9% from 32.0 cents to **25.0 cents a dozen** (USDA), now 14.5 cents below conventional large white, an inverted cage-free premium of -37%. - **Large brown conventional loose** moved against the grain, up 13.2% from 68.0 cents to **77.0 cents a dozen** (USDA). - **New York large white delivered store door** eased to **80.0 cents a dozen**, down 3.6% from 83.0 cents (USDA). APHIS reports no confirmed HPAI detections in egg-layer flocks in the past 60 days. U.S. shell egg inventory stood at 1,457 thousand cases as of Oct. 5 (USDA), 0.4% below the trailing four-week average, a marginally tight read. Northwest conventional total shell egg inventory is more constrained, at 60.6 thousand cases, 19% below the five-year median (USDA). Fifty-five series have not updated in more than two weeks (USDA), including California cage-free brown loose delivered and California cage-free large white diet-enhanced delivered. Figures from those series are not reported this issue. --- Canonical URL: https://the-scramble.com/issues/2026-10-13