Gov’t taking steps to ensure egg supply stability

Several measures are being implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining to ensure egg supply stability in the country and revitalise the industry, says portfolio minister Floyd Green.

“We would have distributed, up to the end of December, about 50,000 pullets, ready to lay hens, across our hardest-hit parishes. We have seen some challenges with the weather pattern and those pullets and their production numbers. [So] what we are planning to do, and what we have started to do, is target our large-scale users of eggs and allow them to be able to import liquid eggs, especially for our baking and hospitality industry; so that that will allow more whole eggs for local consumers,” he informed.

Green, who said the ministry has already reached out to several baking companies and hotels, indicated that “we are not allowing the importation of whole eggs; it would have to be liquid, it would have to be powdered and will only be for the hospitality or baking sectors”.

The minister provided the update during Wednesday’s post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House.

Green said work is being done with Jamaica Broilers and Caribbean Broilers to secure hatching eggs from alternative markets, including Belgium and the Netherlands.

“If you have been paying attention to what has been happening in the United States, you [would] realise that the challenge with egg supply is not just a local challenge; in fact, they have a more severe challenge in the USA,” he said.

“USA is normally where a lot of our hatching eggs come from, so we have tasked the team at the Veterinary Services Division to work with Jamaica Broilers and Caribbean Broilers to explore alternative markets, including Belgium and the Netherlands, to see if we can secure hatching eggs from those alternative markets.”

Green further noted that collaboration is being done with other stakeholders, including the Jamaica Egg Farmers Association (JEFA) and Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA), “to look at the demand as we go through the rest of the year, especially for our bakeries and tourism sector, to ensure we are always able to satisfy the demands and reduce some of the strain on our retail sector”.

He said while several areas of the agriculture sector have rebounded, “the egg industry still remains under pressure”.

The minister pointed out that this started with the loss of more than 43,000 laying hens during the passage of Hurricane Beryl last July, which severely dented domestic egg production.

He further noted that the birds surviving the hurricane experienced a period of trauma and did not produce in their normal production numbers.

“This was compounded by the rains that we had towards the end of October and all of November,” the minister stated.

Green said projections for January to June 2025 indicate that there will be a 26 per cent reduction in egg production.

“In fact, last year we would have produced 123 million eggs; this year, we are projecting to produce 95.4 million eggs. We do understand that that also provides some pressure in relation to pricing. We have seen where there is limited supply [and] some increases in relation to price also providing some pressure in relation to pullet prices, [that is] ready-to-lay hens; we have [also] seen a five per cent increase in relation to pullet prices,” he further stated.

Green said it is expected that pre-Hurricane Beryl production levels will return by July 2025, provided there are no major external disruptions.

“We will continue to monitor and adjust interventions; in fact, we are going to be distributing some more pullets. We are in the process of procuring that, so that will help to drive the revitalisation of our egg industry,” he added.