The Fynbrex Egg & Feed Index

What UK feed and egg prices have actually done — month by month, from the official DEFRA datasets, in plain numbers small flocks and small farms can use when they plan feed buying or check their own costs.

How to read this page. The feed figures are the average monthly straights feed prices for Great Britain (DEFRA, with AHDB and Farmers Weekly data), in £ per tonne. The egg figures are the UK average packer-to-producer prices from the DEFRA egg packers dataset, in pence per dozen, published quarterly. Feed is a farm-gate input price; the egg price is what packers paid producers, not what shoppers pay and not necessarily what a small flock is paid. Everything here is a UK average — your own quotes and records beat it.

Feed prices

UK feed wheat and feed barley prices, GBP per tonne, monthly 79 145 212 278 345 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 198 175 Feed wheat Feed barley Source: DEFRA / AHDB – straights feed prices, Great Britain
UK feed wheat and feed barley, £ per tonne, monthly. Feed wheat was £197.95/t in August 2026 (+£30/t, +18% on the year). The two lines move together most of the time: barley usually trades below wheat, and both track the world grain market, so a small flock’s feed bill moves even when nothing on the farm changed.

Feed is usually the largest single cost in a small flock’s budget. These are ex-farm prices for bulk straights — the raw grains and proteins feed millers blend — so bagged compound feed from a shop will carry a margin on top. Read the direction of the line rather than the exact number: a rise of £20 a tonne is roughly half a penny on every egg at the flock sizes this site works with.

Egg prices

UK packer to producer egg prices, pence per dozen, quarterly 63 90 117 144 171 2016 Q1 2021 Q2 2026 Q2 153 162 All types Free range Source: DEFRA – egg packers dataset (UK average)
UK average packer-to-producer prices, pence per dozen, quarterly. The latest quarter (Q2 2026) paid 153.1p a dozen for all types of egg, and 161.6p for free range. Free range has held a premium of roughly 5–15p a dozen over the all-types average in recent years.

This is the price packers paid producers for shell eggs, averaged across the UK. A small flock selling direct — farm gate, honesty box, local shop — can reasonably aim higher; a small flock selling through a packer will sit near this line. Quarterly figures lag by a few weeks: the newest quarter is published about three months after it ends.

What that means for a small flock: implied feed cost per egg

Implied feed cost per egg, pence, monthly 1.66 2.96 4.27 5.58 6.88 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 3.96 Feed cost per egg Feed wheat x 120 g per bird a day / 0.6 eggs a bird a day
Feed cost per egg in pence, calculated from the monthly feed wheat price at 120 g of feed a bird a day and 4.2 eggs a bird a week — the cost-per-egg calculator’s starting figures, taken from the middle of UK guidance rather than the flattering end of it. The latest month implies 3.96p of feed per egg.
This is the feed component only. It is not the cost of producing an egg. Housing, bedding, healthcare, replacements, power and your own time all sit on top. And it is a UK average feed price: if you buy bagged feed or small volumes you will pay more per tonne. Use the calculator with your own price to see your own number.

Latest values

All figures from the DEFRA datasets listed below. Retrieved 2026-10-16.
MeasureLatestPeriodReleasedSource
Feed wheat (£/t, GB)197.95August 202617 Sep 2026DEFRA / AHDB
Feed barley (£/t, GB)175.00August 202617 Sep 2026DEFRA / AHDB
Soya bean meal (£/t)356.20August 202617 Sep 2026DEFRA / Farmers Weekly
Egg price, all types (p/dozen)153.1Q2 202630 Jul 2026DEFRA
Egg price, free range (p/dozen)161.6Q2 202630 Jul 2026DEFRA
UK egg production (million dozen)272.0Q2 202630 Jul 2026DEFRA
Implied feed cost per egg (p)3.96August 202617 Sep 2026Fynbrex calculation

Where the numbers come from, and what this page does not show

  • Feed prices — DEFRA, Animal feed prices: “Selected average monthly straights feed prices for Great Britain (GBP per tonne)”. File used: commodity_prices_straights_20260917.csv. Next release: 22 Oct 2026.
  • Egg prices and intake — DEFRA, Egg statistics: “Egg packers dataset: packer to producer prices (pence per dozen), packers intake and shell egg sales”. File used: Packer_shell_egg_dataset_20260730.ods. Next release: 29 Oct 2026.
  • Production volumes — DEFRA, Egg statistics: “Egg production dataset: quarterly UK production of eggs for human consumption (million dozen)”.
  • What it does not show. Retail prices; the price your own buyer pays; costs other than feed; regional or breed differences; or the effects of the 2024 methodology change in the DEFRA egg data, which the department warns about when comparing figures across 2023–2024.

This page is rebuilt from the DEFRA files each month. Feed prices: released 17 Sep 2026, next release 22 Oct 2026. Egg prices: released 30 Jul 2026, next release 29 Oct 2026. This copy was generated 2026-10-16.

Fynbrex is reader-supported – see our affiliate disclosure. Some links on this site may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.