Category: News

EIC releases report on EPA draft emissions models

The Egg Industry Center at Iowa State University has released a new report to help the U.S. egg industry understand the science behind the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed emission models.

The Egg Industry Center (EIC) assembled a group of scientists to subject the August 2021 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) draft laying hen facility emission models for ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, and dust to a series of “stress tests” to gauge how inputs would impact estimated annual emission factors at 12 different locations nationwide.

“It is gratifying to know that EPA is soliciting additional scientific input and is willing to listen to our concerns as they seek scientifically robust solutions,” said Richard S. Gates, director of the Egg Industry Center.

EIC has provided a technical summary of the report for the industry’s ease of understanding. The EIC report suggests taking a simpler approach to modeling emissions by developing emission factors from the underlying dataset EPA used to create the models.

Armed with the technical summary and the report itself, the industry can use this information to develop scientifically solid comments on EPA’s process of emission model development.

“EIC’s goal is to add value to the egg industry by providing a scientific voice on issues when necessary. The comment opportunity provided by EPA for these draft emission models offered a good example for us to do just that,” Gates said.

The egg industry scientists have submitted a manuscript with their findings to the Journal of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers. When reviewed and published in the upcoming months, this will ensure their work is peer-reviewed and guarantees a level of scientific rigor for the process they used to evaluate the draft models.

EIC will convene industry experts to talk about egg industry-related air emissions and other pertinent topics related to sustainability at its annual Egg Industry Issues Forum on November 8-9, 2022.

The Egg Industry Center is located at Iowa State University and conducts and funds research throughout North America. The center has infused 14 universities with several million dollars to help provide scientific information and solutions to the egg industry.

Egg Industry Center releases updated egg cost study

The Egg Industry Center at Iowa State University has released an updated study to help the U.S. egg industry with important post-production cost information.

The study helps egg farmers compare industry costs with their own operational costs of processing (washing, and weighing), putting eggs in cartons, and transporting eggs to market. Therefore, the processing, cartoning and transporting report is referred to as the PCT study.

“Using 2021 data provided by egg farmers, we estimated that for the most common egg type reported by U.S. producers (eggs processed on the farm where they are produced), PCT costs averaged about 47 cents for every dozen eggs produced,” said Maro Ibarburu, associate scientist and business analyst for the Egg Industry Center (EIC).

The updated analysis reflects a turbulent market year, with pandemic-related market disruptions and marked labor shortages yielding PCT costs roughly 20% higher than 2020. The study was updated due to interest from industry organizations.

Derreck Nassar, President and CEO of the United States Egg Marketers, Inc. helped clarify the importance of the study for the egg industry: “The Egg Industry Center’s PCT report plays a vital role in benchmarking post-production costs of eggs for the supply chain. This ultimately primes egg farmers and stakeholders alike to be more efficient and competitive while resulting in more value for consumers.”

One challenge faced by EIC was low survey responses, so there was no estimate for eggs trucked from a farm to a processing facility. “The off-line dataset we developed had two very different clusters of prices,” Ibarburu said. “The prices were too far apart without enough data points to draw a trustable conclusion.”

Overall, the largest difference between the new analysis and past studies occurred in the processing cost versus packaging or transport costs.

“EIC is happy to provide egg farmers with relevant and timely, scientifically-based information to help them advance their operations,” Ibarburu said.

The Egg Industry Center was established at Iowa State in 2008. Its mission is to add value to the egg industry by facilitating research and learning for egg producers, processors and consumers through national and international collaboration. To find more information on the center, visit www.eggindustrycenter.org.

Ibarburu awarded for research excellence

Maro Ibarburu, associate scientist and business analyst for the Egg Industry Center, received the Professional and Scientific Research Award from the Iowa State University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Winning this college-level award qualified Ibarburu for the University-level awards for the same category.

On October 25, Ibarburu was honored at the Iowa State University awards ceremony for winning the university-level research excellence award for professional and scientific staff. This award recognizes Iowa State employees who have worked for five or more years at ISU and provide excellence in research.

Ibarburu’s work involves analyzing data from research projects and other informational resources to ensure the Egg Industry Center provides well-grounded scientific answers on egg industry topics. He provides meaningful market and statistical information to the industry through monthly reports that include flock and price projections. A large part of Ibarburu’s work is adapting his research as needed for the egg industry, which often includes special reports on topics like highly pathogenic avian influenza, COVID, and the cage-free transition.

Please join the Egg Industry Center in congratulating Maro on these accomplishments.

In Memoriam: Blair Van Zetten

AMES, Iowa — Blair Van Zetten, president of Oskaloosa Food Products Corporation and a founding board member of the Egg Industry Center died January 18, 2021 in Arizona.

Van Zetten took control of Oskaloosa Food Products Corporation in 1980 upon his father’s passing. His father started the company in 1938. Oskaloosa Foods, located in Oskaloosa, Iowa, is an industry leader in dried, liquid and frozen egg products and serves domestic and international markets.

During his career Van Zetten served on many industry-related boards. He was a past-chair of the American Egg Board (AEB), the United Egg Association, the Egg Industry Center (EIC) and the Iowa Egg Council. At the time of his passing he was a member of the United Egg Producer Board, treasurer of the board for the US Farmers and Ranchers Alliance, treasurer of the board for the Iowa Egg Council, AEB Board member and market development committee chair, and vice chair of the EIC Board.

“Our hearts ache with the entire industry at the loss of such a proponent for what the egg could bring to people around the world,” said Richard Gates, director of EIC. “We are grateful for the legacy that Blair left; his vision and belief that applied research on the industry’s challenging issues was the best way forward for the entire industry.”

Van Zetten was a founding board member of EIC and one of its original visionaries who worked to make the organization a reality for the egg industry. He served as EIC’s first chair from the time of the center’s creation in 2008 until 2011. During his time on the EIC Board he was actively engaged in determining research funding initiatives and educational speakers for the industry to learn from, as well as working to grow the endowment that helps the center fund research throughout North America.

Van Zetten had earned the title of Oskaloosa Citizen of The Year and was named Urner Barry’s Egg Person of the Year in 2016. He was inducted to the Iowa Poultry Association Hall of Fame in 2019. In 2020, Van Zetten was given the highest honor by the Iowa State University Alumni Association for non-graduates of Iowa State University – the Honorary Alumni Award. This award is given to those who have made significant contributions to Iowa State’s welfare, reputation, prestige and pursuit of excellence.

“I only had the privilege of knowing Blair two short years, but he already had a life-long impact on me, on what I understand about the agriculture and food industries, about how to represent with passion the sectors and things we care about, about how to listen to others, and how to engage,” said College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Endowed Dean’s Chair Daniel J. Robison. “We are all better people having known him.”

Van Zetten served many organizations outside the egg industry. He was a past president for the Oskaloosa Chamber of Commerce, the Oskaloosa Community Development Board and the Forest Cemetery Board. He was a past chair of the TruBank Board of Directors and served as an elder in the First Presbyterian Church. Van Zetten and his wife, Wendy, of 45 years have three sons, Jason, Brandon and Travis.

Preliminary Impact of COVID-19 Report Released

AMES, Iowa — The Egg Industry Center at Iowa State University has released a new report estimating the extent to which COVID-19 is currently impacting the U.S. egg industry.

“We have so many people who are confused about how egg farmers can be losing during this pandemic,” said Maro Ibarburu, associate scientist and business analyst for the Egg Industry Center (EIC). “It was widely covered that prices for shell eggs hit record highs, but it was less known that other types of eggs (liquid) have hit record lows and can’t find a market for their product. We hope that the report explains some of the dynamics that are occurring.”

The special report titled, “Preliminary estimation of the impact of COVID-19 on egg prices and producers’ revenue,” outlines that while eggs are in demand at the grocery story, the demand for eggs used in restaurants and other hospitality venues, like hotels, has nearly come to a halt. The make up of the farms that supply each of these markets is very different and affects the ability of the industry to adjust.

The report reveals that prices for liquid egg are as low as 8 cents/lb., which is cheaper than a gallon jug of retail purified water (priced at 9.6 cents/lb. during the same timeframe). These prices mean egg farmers can’t cover the expense of feed for the hens and can’t find a home for their product that keeps coming each day. The U.S. liquid egg industry is more than $110 million below the 10-year historical April average. On the other hand, the shell egg market experienced a surge in demand that resulted in a very high, but short-lived spike in prices.

New Egg Research Underway

AMES, Iowa — The Egg Industry Center at Iowa State University awarded three grants totaling over $186K as part of its 2018 EIC Research Grant Award Program. Award winners have started work researching hen welfare as it relates to environmental impact, identification of unknown bacteria within a disease model, and caretaker knowledge.

Funded research grants include:

University of British Columbia, for work to develop methods and indicators for considering animal welfare outcomes in life cycle assessments (LCA) – specifically in regard to the type of housing system used. This research is led by Dr. Nathan Pelletier, assistant professor and Egg Farmers of Canada Industrial Chair in Sustainability.

University of Georgia, for research using gene sequencing to identify an unknown bacteria present in the lesions of hens affected with Focal Duodenal Necrosis (FDN) to create a representative disease challenge model for industry. This project is led by Dr. Monique Franca, assistant professor of population health and pathology.

Iowa State University, to create a template for identifying and responding to gaps in caretaker knowledge and skills resulting in short situation-based educational models. This work is led by Dr. Yuko Sato, assistant professor in diagnostic and production animal medicine.

The Egg Industry Center grant program funds research to help answer industry challenges through scientifically based solutions. The center has funded 22 research projects at 11 universities totaling over $1.2 million, since 2013. Completed research has helped to advance knowledge in virus transmission, genetic resistance, keel bone abnormalities, new market development and more.

For more information about partnering with the Egg Industry Center to support research funding, or to find more information on completed and on-going research, visit the center’s research webpage.

EIC Launches Special Report

AMES, Iowa — The Egg Industry Center at Iowa State University has released a study that seeks to fill an 18-year-old gap in information important to the U.S. egg industry.

“We call it the processing, cartoning and transportation, or PCT study,” said Maro Ibarburu, associate scientist and business analyst for the Egg Industry Center (EIC). “The results tell us that egg farmers typically spend 43-49 cents for every dozen eggs on these costs.”

The study helps egg farmers analyze their costs of washing, weighing, packaging and transporting their eggs and was launched in part due to interest from industry organizations.

“The data we collected from late 2018 shows that this cost has increased 80% during the last 18 years,” Ibarburu said. “While that may seem like a lot, given the changes in regulations and regular inflation, a cumulative 3.3% per year is not unreasonable.”

The last study was completed in 2000, by the late Don Bell of the University of California – Davis. His work covered only California egg farmers and their costs. Because that was the only data available, the entire U.S. industry has used it ever since.

“EIC is happy to help arm today’s egg farmers with current, scientifically-based information to help them advance their operations,” Ibarburu said.

EIC Recognizes President Wintersteen

In a private ceremony on March 5, 2019, the Egg Industry Center Advisory Board gave special recognition to one of its founding board members, ISU President Wendy Wintersteen.

As Dean of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at Iowa State University, Wintersteen was key to the development of the Egg Industry Center (EIC), launched in 2008, and its continued growth over the past ten years. “She has been very instrumental to developing the center to where it is today,” Center Director, Dr. Hongwei Xin said. “The president has really played a key role working with our stakeholders, supporting us financially, and providing her commitment and dedication to developing this magnificent center.”

Vice Chairman of the EIC Advisory Board, Blair Van Zetten, President of Oskaloosa Food Products Corporation located in Oskaloosa, Iowa, recognized Winterseen’s tenacity when it came to starting the center. “I know at the beginning [creating the center] was not an easy go – it was a great idea, and it took fortitude and intensity to get it done,” Van Zetten said. “The drive and passion you had I am absolutely appreciative of, and I think everybody in the industry is as well. Thank you on behalf of everyone.”

President Wintersteen passed her seat on the EIC board to Daniel J. Robison, the new Endowed Dean’s Chair of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Iowa State University.

Photo Caption: Xin and Van Zetten present Winterseen a token of appreciation for her time serving on the Egg Industry Center Advisory Board.

EIC Awards Total to Over $1 Million

New Research Funded by Egg Industry Center Brings Award Total to Over $1 Million

AMES, Iowa — The Egg Industry Center at Iowa State University has awarded three new research grants totaling $212,918, bringing its total for egg research funding to more than $1 million since 2013.

The latest recipients of Egg Industry Center grants are:

Pennsylvania State University, for a $89,917 grant on research into the infectiveness, transmission and response to disinfectant treatment of three emerging strains of disease-causing avian reovirus, led by Dr. Huaguang Lu, clinical professor and avian virologist.

Mississippi State University, for a $85,605 study on the use of robots for the collection of floor eggs in open-housing systems and the effect of the robot’s presence on behavior of birds, led by Yang Zhao, assistant professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering.

Iowa State University, for a $37,396 grant on research examining how different housing systems affect gastrointestinal bacterial communities and overall bird health, led by Dawn Koltes, adjunct assistant professor of animal science.

“The Egg Industry Center is proud to help the industry address important questions by investing over $1 million in research grants in the past five years,” said Hongwei Xin, director of the center and assistant dean for research with Iowa State’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. “We want to thank the industry visionaries who could foresee the benefits of a program like this and what it could provide to the industry; we look forward to sharing additional research results as more studies are completed.”

The Egg Industry Center grant program funds research to help answer industry challenges through scientifically based solutions. The center has funded 19 research projects at 10 universities since 2013. Completed research has helped to advance knowledge in virus transmission, genetic resistance, keel bone abnormalities, new market development and more.

Funded research in progress includes work on factors predisposing disease, enhanced building ventilation and air filtration systems, the effect of using ramps in aviary housing systems and a microbiome comparison of laying hens living in different housing systems.

For more information about partnering with the Egg Industry Center to support research funding, or to find more information on completed and on-going research, visit the center’s research webpage.

Summary Unveiled on 2017 Egg Research

AMES, Iowa — The Egg Industry Center at Iowa State University has released its first year-in-review research report featuring 22 new, ongoing or completed research projects.

The report provides brief takeaway messages for egg farmers and others on research that has been conducted by center researchers or by researchers who have been funded through its grant program. It also points readers to on-line resources that feature additional research details and media coverage of the projects.

“It is gratifying to see the work of so many people come together and yield real results for the entire egg industry,” said Hongwei Xin, Egg Industry Center (EIC) director and assistant dean for research at Iowa State’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

For example, the report includes:

Auburn University’s completed research on the role of litter beetles, water, feed and rodents on the transmission of avian influenza;
Egg Industry Center on-going research on the potential mitigation of ammonia and particulate matter generated in cage-free laying hen housing systems, and;
Iowa State’s newly funded research comparing the gut and lung microbiome of laying hens raised in different housing systems.

While the center started in 2008, it was not until 2013 that its research endowment funds reached a level that could support research projects. The center is working to reach its $10 million endowment goal for research, but the dividends already being paid keep growing.

“Producer and researcher impacts are exactly why we created EIC, and it is encouraging to see it come to fruition in such a short timeframe,” Xin said. “I believe we will begin to see tangible ways that the EIC funding is increasingly impacting the careers of researchers, especially junior faculty members.”

The Egg Industry Center is focused on providing value to the U.S. egg industry through information dissemination and collaborative research efforts. The center is committed to ensuring that the current and future needs of the egg industry can be answered through sound science-based information. To find more information on the center, visit www.eggindustrycenter.org.