Analysis of the Current Development Status of China's Laying Hen Industry
Introduction to Spot Egg Knowledge
1. High farming volume, unstable market inventory and egg prices
At present, China's laying hen farming volume ranks first in the world, with the number of commercial laying hens estimated at around 1.5 billion. Under normal production performance, the eggs produced by 1.2 billion commercial laying hens can meet domestic market demand. In recent years, affected by diseases, egg production levels have been uneven, and egg prices remain unstable. Winter is a high-incidence period for chicken diseases, which causes a reduction in inventory, while after typhoons form in summer, egg circulation becomes disrupted, causing significant fluctuations in egg prices.
According to statistics, the laying hen industry employs more than 10 million people, and the annual output value of the laying hen industry, including hatching, chicks, eggs, egg processing and spent hens, exceeds 150 billion yuan. Related industries serving it, such as feed, veterinary drugs and vaccines, and equipment manufacturing, have followed with rapid development, increasing employment channels and job opportunities for the workforce. In 2009, the annual output value of industries related to breeding hens, laying hens, egg retail, feed, veterinary drugs and vaccines exceeded 350 billion yuan.
2. Introduced breeding hens dominate, and total egg production still has room for improvement
According to statistics from the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Agriculture, China's laying hen breeding started relatively late, and production performance is relatively backward. Most great-grandparent and grandparent chickens are introduced from abroad. In terms of domestic grandparent chicken breeding, there is a large gap in production performance compared with introduced foreign breeds.
In 2009, China's per capita annual egg consumption was about 18 kg, far higher than the world average of 9.5 kg, but lower than the average of 23 kg in European and American countries. From the gap between China and developed countries, it can be seen that China's laying hen industry still has great room for development.
3. Production areas gradually shifting southward
Before 2005, China's main laying hen production areas were in Hebei, Shandong, Henan, Sichuan, Liaoning, Jiangsu and other provinces. From the consumption characteristics of eggs, egg consumption is mainly fresh eggs, and eggs from the north are transported to the south. Due to the long transportation time, high transportation costs and greater difficulty in preserving product freshness, combined with local governments encouraging people to escape poverty and become prosperous, mostly choosing projects with small investment that can be carried out by one household or several households jointly, some areas encourage the development of laying hen farming, so there is a trend of laying hen production areas shifting southward.
4. The advantageous industrial layout of laying hens has basically taken shape
China's laying hen industry is moving toward standardized, large-scale, industrialized and ecological development. The number of farming households has decreased but the scale has expanded. Commercial generation chicken farms are gradually moving toward large-scale operations, and free-range households in rural areas with farming volumes of 1,500 to 5,000 birds are gradually decreasing. Large chicken farms with more than 100,000 birds are gradually increasing.
5. The branding phenomenon in the egg market is obvious, and safety supervision is continuously being strengthened
The egg market is gradually showing obvious regionalization and branding, and egg companies are developing vigorously and engaging in regional competition. With the continuous improvement of economic levels, consumers need fresh, hygienic and pollution-free assured eggs, which brings great development prospects for branded eggs. Egg companies sign contracts with medium and large chicken farms to produce assured eggs and set up egg processing plants, using egg selecting and washing machines, coding machines and packaging machines to produce clean eggs for the market. Their products are both safe and can increase added value.
In recent years, China's supervision of egg product quality and safety has been continuously strengthened, relevant laws and regulations, management systems and technical standards have been continuously improved, and the egg product quality and safety monitoring system has been further perfected. The management of veterinary drugs and feed additives has been further strengthened. This has powerfully improved the safety level of China's egg product quality.