Cal-Maine Foods says business in Q1 impacted by HPAI outbreak

The company states: “The most recent outbreak of HPAI affected the Company’s business and financial results primarily during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2022 and continuing into the first part of the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023. While the last occurrence in a commercial egg laying flock was in December 2022, there have been occurrences in other avian populations in the U.S. since then. HPAI is still present in the wild bird population and the extent of possible future outbreaks, particularly during the upcoming fall migration season, cannot be predicted. There have been no positive tests for HPAI at any of Cal-Maine Foods’ owned or contracted production facilities as of October 2, 2023. Based on USDA data, the Company believes that the U.S. layer hen flock, which declined as a result of flock depletions due to HPAI, has largely recovered but remains slightly lower than the five-year average. Layer hen numbers reported by the USDA as of September 1, 2023, were 318.2 million, which represents an increase of 3.1% compared with the layer hen inventory a year ago. The USDA also reported that the hatch from April 2023 through August 2023 increased 2.0% as compared with the prior-year period, indicating that layer flocks may continue to increase in the future.”