Egg Producers: Mass Imports Will Kill Our Business

In order to ensure that there are enough eggs to go around, the government is planning to authorize the import of 100 million eggs for the period of the Tishrei chagim. But doing so, said Motti Elkabetz, head of the Israel Fowl Growers Organization, will be a “death blow” to the egg production industry in Israel. According to Elkabetz, the number of eggs the government seeks to import is “ridiculously high,” and will cause “major economic damage” to the egg industry.

According to Elkabetz, a more rational number would be some 10 million eggs, with is the number that markets are likely to be short. “We find it very strange that the Agriculture Ministry would make such a decision without consulting with those responsible for egg production,” Elkabetz wrote in a letter to Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel. “Dumping tens of millions of extra eggs on markets means that there will be a lot of unsold eggs, which will end up in the garbage. We find it difficult to understand why the Ministry would declare war on Israeli egg producers.”

Also dissatisfied with Ministry policies are vegetable growers, who, according to Meir Yifrach, chairman of the Israel Vegetable Growers Association, are desperate for assistance in the wake of the lengthy heat wave Israel has been experiencing this summer.

In a letter to Ariel, Yifrach described the difficult circumstances vegetable growers are facing. “We are undergoing a difficult situation,” the letter said. “We are being forced to dump fruits and vegetables on the market at bargain basement prices, and we are not getting any help from either the Agriculture or the Finance Ministry.” Seeking a discount in the price of water for farmers would be a good start in assisting farmers, Yifrach wrote.