Mr Gooch said: "It is disappointing to hear some packers are reducing the price paid to free range egg producers, but it is not unexpected".

Mr Gooch continued: "The market has been in an oversupply situation and we have been warning that further pressure would be put on prices.

"Over the past few years BFREPA has been providing members with pullet placement and planning data updates with regular warnings of overproduction leading to a likely impact on prices.

"Nonetheless it will be a bitter pill to swallow for many producers who were hit with rocketing feed bills last year while the egg price steadily eroded.

"This makes the work we are doing to introduce model contracts even more more important.

"We need balanced, water-tight agreements which not only provide more protection for producers against market volatility but also encourage packers and retailers to act more responsibly in their contract offers to producers".

What has BFREPA been doing on supply and price issues?

• For more than two years BFREPA has consistently warned about oversupply to members and the potential for price cuts as a result;
  
  
• Newsletters, text messages and stories in the Ranger have made the precarious situation abundantly clear;
  
  
• BFREPA has campaigned for more packers to offer feed-price linked tracker contracts which helped at least 30 percent of producers avoid price cuts;
  
  
• Full data in the Ranger allowing any egg producer to understand how the trend will affect their business and make allowances;
  
  
• Planning data published by BFREPA for the past two years shows producers the trend or rapid, unsustainable expansion;
  
  
• Warnings issued over massive imbalances in contracts, weighted heavily towards packers;
  
  
• Raised the profile of price pressure in the national media.

What is BFREPA doing now?

• Working to establish a model contract which will set out balanced terms for producers to enter into with packers;
  
  
• Significant media and digital campaign encouraging consumers to swap large eggs for medium and mixed weight boxes.

BFREPA services to help you

• Digest the analysis in the Ranger to help understand the big picture of how production has expanded;
  
  
• Make sure you sign up for email newsletters and text messages to hear the latest from BFREPA as it happens – email [email protected] to sign up;
  
  
• Check out the latest planning data in the Ranger to see how much production is planned which will affect the market in the future;
  
  
• Attend BFREPA Conference 2019 to ensure you understand how the free range sector is changing.