US shell eggs broken down slightly in January

U.S. shell eggs broken totaled 170 million dozen during January, down slightly from January 2011 and 1 percent above the 168 million broken in December 2011, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Of the 221.4 million pounds of edible product produced in January, 133.3 million pounds were whole eggs, 58 million pounds were egg whites and 30.1 million pounds were egg yolks. Egg whites and egg yolks were up slightly over January 2011 numbers, which came in at 54.5 million pounds and 27.6 million pounds, respectively; however, January's whole egg weight was down from 2011's 138.1 million pounds. Overall, the weight of edible product in January remained higher than January 2011's 220.2 million pounds, according to the data. For more egg statistics and information, see www.wattagnet.com/marketdata.html.