2020 Iowa Egg Industry Fact Sheet

Iowa’s egg farmers lead the nation in egg production, caring for nearly 55 million laying hens producing nearly 16 billion eggs per year. That’s almost one out of every six eggs produced in the United States!

Economic Impact of Eggs

Iowa’s egg industry feeds the state economy in a big way. The industry contributes about $2.4 billion in total sales, some 7,400 jobs, more than $502 million in personal wages and nearly $22.8 million in state tax revenues.

Egg Consumption

Per capita consumption is a measure of total egg production divided by the total population. It does not represent demand. (USDA has recently adjusted data to reflect 2000 Census figures.)

1996 – 234.6 2004 – 257.1 2012 - 254.3
1997 – 235.6 2005 – 255.4 2013 - 258.2
1998 - 239.7 2006 – 258.1 2014 - 267.5
1999 – 249.8 2007 – 251.7 2015 - 256.3
2000 – 251.7 2008 - 248.3 2016 - 274.7
2001 – 252.8 2009 - 248.4 2017 - 274.2
2002 – 255.9 2010 - 249.3 2018 - 278.9 (est.)
2003 – 254.7 2011 - 249.9

 

Nutritional Value of Eggs

Nutrient   Whole Egg Egg White Egg Yolk
Energy calories 72 17 55
Protein grams 6.3 3.6 2.7
Carbohydrate grams 0.36 0.24 0.61
Total Fat grams 4.8 0.06 4.5
Monounsaturated Fat grams 1.8 0 2
Polyunsaturated Fat grams 1 0 0.72
Saturated Fat grams 1.6 0 1.6
Trans Fat grams 0.02 0 0.02
Cholesterol grams 186 0 184
Choline grams 126 0.4 116
Riboflavin grams 0.2 0.15 0.09
Vitamin B12 grams 0.45 0.03 0.33
Folate grams 24 1 25
Vitamin D IU 41 0 37
Vitamin A IU 270 0 245
Vitamin B6 milligrams 0.09 0 0.06
Thiamin milligrams 0.02 0 0.03
Vitamin E milligrams 0.5 0 0.44
Selenium milligrams 15.4 6.6 9.5
Phosphorus milligrams 99 5 66
Iron milligrams 0.88 0.03 0.46
Zinc milligrams 0.65 0.01 0.39
Calcium milligrams 28 2 22
Sodium milligrams 71 55 8
Potassium milligrams 69 54 19
Magnesium milligrams 6 4 1

Note: percentage of U.S. table egg layer flock.

Source: USDA Poultry Market News & Analysis

Egg Industry Statistics

  • The five largest egg producing states represent approximately 50 percent of all U.S. layers.
  • U.S. egg production during December 2017 was 9.07 billion table eggs.
  • Presently, there are approximately 55 egg producing companies with 1 million-plus layers that represent approximately 96 percent of total production and 18 companies with greater than 5 million layers.
  • To date, there are approximately 200 egg producing companies with flocks of 75,000 hens or more. These companies represent about 95 percent of all the layers in the United States. In 1987, there were around 2,500 operations. (Number of operations in 1987 include some contract farms and divisions.)
  • In 2017, the average number of egg-type laying hens in the United States was 315 million. Flock size for January 1, 2018 was 321 million layers, increasing from last year’s 319. Rate of lay per day on January 1, 2018, averaged 78.7 eggs per 100 layers, down from last year 80.5.

Of the 265.08 million cases (estimated) of shell eggs produced in 2018:

  • 79.97 million cases (30.2 percent) were further processed into liquid or dried egg
  • 8.5 million cases (3.2 percent) were exported (both as shell eggs or egg products)
  • Exports of processed egg products in 2018 was 81,877 tons (valued at $133.75 million), down 18 percent with respect to 2017. In 2018, the U.S. exported 1375 million shell eggs (valued at $123.55 million), up 6 percent with respect to 2017.
  • Of the total table egg shipments, 76 percent or 196.1 million dozen were shipped to the top four export markets – Canada (31%), Japan (20%), China (18%), and Mexico (7%).

Sources: U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, American Egg Board and USAPEEC