WASHINGTON, DC – The top five egg producing companies in the U.S. own almost half of all egg-laying commercial hens. 

While consumers and small businesses are feeling the pain from high egg prices at restaurants and supermarkets, the largest egg conglomerates are doing remarkably well.  One egg company which produces one in every five eggs eaten in the U.S. has seen profits soar to record heights and is issuing exponentially higher shareholder dividends than it did before the outbreak and egg price increases.

U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) says something smells rotten and wants the Trump Administration to ensure the biggest corporate egg producers in the highly concentrated egg industry aren’t unfairly padding their profits, contributing to inflated prices, and then turning around and feathering their C suites with stock buybacks that are subsidized by U.S. taxpayers and windfall profits. 

Reed, who has led efforts to crack down on egg price gouging since 2023, is urging the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) “to ensure that taxpayer funding intended to fight the avian flu outbreak is used responsibly to eradicate the disease and lower the cost of eggs, and does not go to publicly traded companies that are conducting stock buybacks.” 

Senator Reed sent a letter today to the head of the USDA expressing deep concern about the impact that the avian flu outbreak is having on the price of eggs and American consumers.  Reed noted USDA has exacerbated this problem by recently laying off key workers on the frontlines of combating avian: “Since President Trump took office, the price of a dozen eggs has nearly doubled, and the Administration fired several employees working to combat avian flu.  While the Administration has since announced a new effort to rehire those employees and invest in solutions, it must do better to coordinate an effective response that actually results in lower prices for Americans.”

The avian flu outbreak has proven to be incredibly profitable for Cal-Maine Foods Inc., the nation’s largest egg producer and distributor.  Due to the fact that Cal-Maine Foods Inc. is a publicly-traded egg producer, it must report basic financial data.  Last month, Cal-Maine reported price hikes have been good for business: generating over $350 million in gross quarterly profits, a fourfold increase from a year prior.  With the excess profits, Cal-Maine executives announced a $500 million stock buyback program, which enriches corporate executives and wealthy investors while consumers continue paying record prices.

Stock buybacks are a controversial financial maneuver by large corporations that remove shares from the market and enable a company to increase its share price and earnings per share and offset dilution when executives exercise stock options or when insiders want to sell their shares. Until 1982, buybacks were uncommon and generally considered a form of market manipulation. But during the Reagan Administration, when the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted rule 10b-18 that year, it gave large companies a “safe harbor” to buy back stock.

Despite its tremendous profits, and the fact that Cal-Maine has 75 percent more hens than the next largest company, Cal-Maine received $44 million in USDA indemnity payments to compensate for bird deaths due to the avian flu outbreak.

Reed’s letter states that USDA“should ensure the funding it does make available for the avian flu response is used effectively to help producers who need it most – not highly-profitable companies.  A company that has earmarked hundreds of millions of dollars of cash on-hand and expected earnings for stock buybacks also has the resources to recover from losses and implement biosecurity measures without taxpayer assistance.” 

While USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins outlined a plan to invest $1 billion in curbing avian flu, that figure represents about half of what the Biden Administration was spending to tackle the problem.  And coupled with the USDA layoffs, the Trump Administration’s inadequate attention to the problem is exacerbating the situation.

“Donald Trump said he’d bring down egg prices on day one.  Since he took office, the price of a dozen eggs has nearly doubled.  I guess the “yolk” is on every consumer and business who are now paying a higher price,” said Senator Reed.  “Trump finds time to bully America’s allies and trading partners, but he chickens out when it comes to antitrust enforcement and special interests.  He won’t take five minutes to call the top egg producers together to ensure consumers are getting a fair deal and egg prices aren’t manipulated to artificially high levels.”

Full text of the letter follows:

March 6, 2025

The Honorable Brooke Rollins, Secretary

U.S. Department of Agriculture

1400 Independence Ave., S.W.

Washington, DC 20250

Dear Secretary Rollins:

I write to urge you to ensure that taxpayer funding intended to fight the avian flu outbreak is used responsibly to eradicate the disease and lower the cost of eggs, and does not go to publicly traded companies that are conducting stock buybacks. 

As I wrote to you before your confirmation, I am deeply concerned about the impact that the avian flu outbreak is having on the price of eggs and American consumers.  I am also concerned about the effects of possible price gouging by large egg producers, which I expressed in a previous letter to the Biden Administration.  Since President Trump took office, the price of a dozen eggs has nearly doubled, and the Administration fired several employees working to combat avian flu.  While the Administration has since announced a new effort to rehire those employees and invest in solutions, it must do better to coordinate an effective response that actually results in lower prices for Americans.

A key piece of this effort includes ensuring taxpayer dollars are invested wisely and effectively.  In your first two weeks on the job, you visited a Cal-Maine Foods facility in Bogata, Texas to view the company’s implementation of biosecurity measures to prevent the spread of avian flu.  You may know that Cal-Maine Foods is the largest U.S. egg producer and recently announced in a SEC filing that it is spending up to $500 million to buy back shares for the benefit of the founder’s family.  Cal-Maine last month also reported over $350 million in gross quarterly profits, a fourfold increase from a year prior.  Despite its tremendous profits, last year the company received $44 million in USDA indemnity payments to compensate for bird deaths due to the avian flu outbreak.

As the Trump Administration limits federal resources, including for USDA, it should ensure the funding it does make available for the avian flu response is used effectively to help producers who need it most – not highly-profitable companies.  A company that has earmarked hundreds of millions of dollars of cash on-hand and expected earnings for stock buybacks also has the resources to recover from losses and implement biosecurity measures without taxpayer assistance. 

I appreciate your attention to this important issue, and look forward to your prompt reply.

Sincerely,