# Feature: Price pressures hit free-range egg producers - Poultry News

> UK free-range egg producers face severe margin pressure as drought cut wheat volumes and pushed feed prices to a five-year high of £240-270/t. Wheat rose from £143/t at the start of the year to a high of £194/t in August and was still about £176/t in September. Producers also face a surplus of medium and small eggs from flock expansion.

- Date: 2018-10-10 · published 2018-10-10T12:00:00.000Z
- Category: weather · region UK · magnitude low
- Page: https://feedsoft.ai/events/62562-feature-price-pressures-hit-free-range-egg-producers-poultry-news
- Commodities: [Wheat (SRW)](https://feedsoft.ai/c/WHEAT.md)

## Why it matters

Drought-driven wheat price strength lifts feed costs for poultry producers, adding to downward pressure on egg margins and possibly on flock size.

## Read by commodity

- WHEAT: bullish ▲

## Similar past events

| Commodity | Date | Event | 5-day % | 20-day % |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| WHEAT | 2020-10-08 | [Poultry feed prices hit five-year high - Poultry Network](https://feedsoft.ai/events/50750-poultry-feed-prices-hit-five-year-high-poultry-network.md) | +0.0% | -0.6% |
| WHEAT | 2023-03-09 | [Higher soya price halts drop in poultry feed costs - Poultry Network](https://feedsoft.ai/events/36945-higher-soya-price-halts-drop-in-poultry-feed-costs-poultry-network.md) | -0.2% | -4.6% |
| WHEAT | 2017-07-27 | [Crop futures higher Thurs. on dry weather \| The Western Producer](https://feedsoft.ai/events/70067-crop-futures-higher-thurs-on-dry-weather-the-western-producer.md) | +6.5% | -1.1% |
| WHEAT | 2018-09-03 | [Feed prices ‘unsustainable’ as tough market conditions impact egg producer margins - FarmingUK News](https://feedsoft.ai/events/63040-feed-prices-unsustainable-as-tough-market-conditions-impact-egg-producer.md) | +4.3% | -1.9% |
| WHEAT | 2021-08-16 | [Feed prices firm but sentiment is bullish - Poultry Network](https://feedsoft.ai/events/45676-feed-prices-firm-but-sentiment-is-bullish-poultry-network.md) | +1.1% | +2.8% |

## Sources

- poultrynews.co.uk: https://www.poultrynews.co.uk/production/egg-production/feature-price-pressures-hit-free-range-egg-producers.html

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Data from Feedsoft AI (https://feedsoft.ai/). For information only; not investment advice.