Empty egg shelves are a sign of poultry farmer prices – IFA

The IFA has called for supermarkets and egg packers to come forward with higher egg prices to avert scenes of empty egg shelves in shops.

“What we are seeing is history repeating itself,” the association’s poultry chair Brendan Soden said.

“The UK experienced this in 2022 and 2023 when shelves were left empty and rationing of eggs was introduced. Hopefully we don’t see rationing here.”

Soden maintains that despite “a lot of excuses” having been thrown around as to the cause of the shortage, empty shelves are the “direct consequence of continued inaction on farmgate pricing”.

“We have sought an increase of 2c an egg for free range and organic production and 1c an egg for barn eggs,” he said.

“This must be ringfenced and returned directly to all egg producers. Under the right financial conditions, they are more than willing to meet this growing demand for Irish eggs.

“This is not an excessive ask. It reflects cost increases since 2022; the erosion of premiums; and the widening gap between Irish and EU pricing.”

The IFA claims to have put “several proposals” on the table that it says would give poultry farmers more confidence and financial stability.

It said that the risk of bird flu has left many free-range producers weighing up whether the risk of allowing hens outdoors is worth the risk.