THE EGG INDUSTRY OF CALIFORNIA AND THE USA IN THE 1990S - A SURVEY OF SYSTEMS

Survey data collected by the University of California have quantified some current systems of commercial egg production in the USA as a whole and in the state of California. Specific comparisons are made. Respondents were asked to estimate certain changes in the egg production sector between the present time and the year 2000. These projections suggest: a continuing trend for contract production to decline in favour of company owned sites; some further increase in cage rearing; more attention to improved methods of handling manure and disposing of dead birds; and a continuing growth in the number of large scale in-line egg production complexes. The projection that the size of the USA layer population will increase by over 20% by the end of the decade is considered unlikely to happen.