Fair and Competitive Markets and U.S. Egg Production Down
From the Ag Information Network, this is your Agribusiness Update.
**U.S. ag groups are reacting to the USDA’s proposed Packers and Stockyards rule titled “Fair and Competitive Livestock and Poultry Markets.”
National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Vice President Ethan Lane calls the proposal is a “direct attack” on cattle producer profitability.
He says USDA sends a clear message that cattle producers should not derive any free-market benefit but be paid one low price, regardless of quality, all in the name of so-called fairness.
**Between 2020 and 25, there will be an estimated 59,400 annual job openings in the agricultural job sector.
A Purdue University study shows the average posted starting salary for ag graduates in those five years reached a high of nearly $64,000 in January 2023.
One possible explanation is the increased demand for employees after COVID-19 and employers having to increase wages to recruit more at-home workers back into the office.
**U.S. egg production totaled 9.1 billion in May, down 2% from May 23.
Production included 7.81 billion table eggs and 1.3 billion hatching eggs, of which 1.2 billion were broiler-type and 99.7 million were egg-type.
The average number of layers during May totaled 372 million, down 3% from last year.
May egg production per 100 layers was 2,450 eggs, up 1% from May 2023.
