SOUTH CAROLINA EGG PRODUCTION INCREASED FROM 2004

Columbia, S.C., March 23, 2005: SOUTH CAROLINA’S laying flocks produced 105 million eggs during February, unchanged from the previous year, according to the South Carolina Agricultural Statistics. Production totaled 88 million table eggs and 17 million hatching eggs. The number of layers averaged 5,138,000 birds, 2 percent below the 5,5266,000 a year ago. February egg production per 100 layers was 2,044 eggs, compared with 1,994 in February 2004.

UNITED STATES egg production totaled 6.91 billion during February 2005, up slightly from last year. Production included 5.90 billion table eggs, and 1.01 billion hatching eggs, of which 956 million were broiler-type and 58 million were egg-type. The total number of layers during February 2005 averaged 349 million, up 3 percent from a year earlier. February egg production per 100 layers was 1,980 eggs, down 3 percent from February 2004.

SOUTH CAROLINA BROILER HATCHERY PRODUCTION UP

During the month of January, SOUTH CAROLINA’S broiler hatcheries produced 16.7 million chicks, up 36 percent from the previous year.

The February 2005 hatch of broiler-type chicks in the UNITED STATES, at 731 million, was up slightly from February of the previous year. There were 659 million eggs in incubators on March 1, 2005, up 2 percent from a year earlier.

For additional information call:

          Robert A. Graham, State Director

          Stan Cheek, Agricultural Statistician