One in four egg farmers in the Netherlands is at risk of going bankrupt because of low egg prices and high feed costs, farming organisation LTO said at the weekend.

In addition, many farmers have made considerable investments to be ready for the ban on battery egg production within the EU which came into effect in January 2012.

‘At the same time, the supply of eggs within the EU has gone up sharply,’ LTO spokesman Hugo Bens told broadcaster Nos.

‘There are a lot more farmers now in Germany and Germany was always an important export market for us. The loss of that export market has also pressured egg prices,’ he said.

Egg farmers normally need to replenish their flocks every 18 months. A large farmer would need €450,000 to replace his 100,000 hens but many no longer have any reserves and banks are also more difficult about lending, Nos said.