Glimmer of light for eggs

EGG producers could be digging themselves back out of their hole at last.
The cutbacks in egg chick placings have now set into a pattern that should result in a year-on-year fall in flock size by August.

Our year-on trends graph shows that by August, the general downward trend since January this year is due to cross the 1997 line which rose steadily all through the year. However, flock size will probably need to go lower still to bring output back into balance with current demand.

The substantial cutbacks in chick numbers in February and March in particular have put things back on the right track, with placings down by around 17 per cent over the two months.