Cort Acre Egg Farm in Seymour has 2.8 million birds, which will exacerbate nation's egg supply and price situation.
Rose Acre Farms, one of the largest egg producers in the U.S., shared information about a highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) outbreak at its Cort Acre Egg Farm facility in Seymour, Ind.
In updates posted on its X page, the company explained, “We started noticing mortality on Saturday, Jan. 25, and we sent off samples to be tested as quickly as possible. As soon as we noticed the mortality, we immediately implemented further biosecurity steps to our already established, stringent biosecurity protocol. Unfortunately, we have been previously affected by bird flu, and we know the necessary steps to mitigate further spread.”
The Cort Acre farm houses an estimated 2.8 million birds.
Rose Acre Farms owns and operates 16 layer farms in Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina, Georgia, Iowa and Arizona, with its corporate office in Seymour, according to its website. The company produces shell eggs, liquid eggs, specialty eggs such as nutritionally enhanced and cage free, dried eggs and egg protein powder.
“We have been and are continuing to work with the Indiana State Board of Animal Health and the state veterinarian on best practices to combat the risk of spreading [HPAI] to other birds. We are continuing to monitor all of our facilities,” the company said in its post.
The Indiana Board of Animal Health is monitoring the current situation in the state, along with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Both Rose Acre Farms and the state board reiterated that the risk of HPAI to people remains low.
Such a major loss of laying hens is sure to put another noticeable dent in the nation’s egg supply, which has already suffered drastic decreases due to HPAI infections at egg operations.
According to a USDA radio report this week, eggs were getting the most attention after the agency released its January “Food Price Outlook” report. Host Rod Bain talked to economist Megan Sweitzer, who said “egg prices rose 8.4% in December … due to ongoing effects of the avian influenza outbreak that’s been going on since 2022. Egg prices in December were up 36.8% from last year.”
Sweitzer gave more dire news in her prediction that eggs prices will continue to rise in 2025. She predicted a 20.3% increase in prices for this year.
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