One of the reasons for high egg prices was the highly pathogenic avian influenza, a fatal virus that has led to more than 100 million hen deaths. As the disease fades and more eggs make it to the market, the price lowers and the elevated value of each egg diminishes.
As a result, poultry and egg receipts — essentially, the money a farm makes from selling their products — are on the decline, and overall livestock receipts are also on the decline, with an estimated 11% decrease this year when compared to 2025 figures.
The Spring 2026 Farm Income Outlook reported a decline in Missouri's farm income as livestock profits decreased. Additionally, they project a further decline of 6% this year due to a reduction in both livestock and crop receipts.
Total crop receipts are also projected to decline slightly, as about 250,000 fewer acres are expected to be planted this season.
Danyelle Chinn is a research consultant for the Rural and Farm Finance Policy Analysis Center and the main author on the spring 2026 report. Chinn said the decline puts pressure on the agriculture industry, causing farmers to tighten margins.
“It makes things a little bit harder for producers, and lower farm income,” she said. “It can ripple through rural communities. They have less money to spend on equipment inputs at local businesses, and it can slow economic activity.”
However, Chinn said direct government payments and assistance are projected to increase by 83% this year in an effort to offset the financial losses facing producers, and overall net farm income for the state.
Still, she said government financial support is a double-edged sword, as it will bolster farms with diminishing returns, but can also create a greater reliance on federal funds.
“They have their place. They have their purpose, and I think lately, they've been a really great resource to help producers make ends meet, to continue getting through these hard times,” she said.
TaylorAnn Washburn, the director of Marketing and Commodities for the Missouri Farm Bureau, said increasing production costs and decreasing profits — in addition to diminishing livestock supply — exasperates pressure.
“I think clarifying some of that can really help folks understand why the mismatch is really painful, because what we can do to try to shorten that gap is, it's not as clear cut as you might think, initially,” Washburn said.
She said farmers and ranchers don't have the ability to set their own pricing to offset the pressure felt by persistently high production costs.
“We aren't price makers for our products, we are price takers, whenever we take grain to the elevator, we don't get to tell the person who's buying our grain how much we want to be paid for it,” Washburn said.
But, Chinn said, the decline isn’t a new phenomenon exclusive to Missouri.
“We've been in very uncharted territory in the past couple of years in agriculture. And so I just think it's very important for producers to not get down on themselves,” Chinn said.
Like Chinn, Washburn feels positively about the industry bouncing back.
"It's a challenging time right now,” Washburn said. “But again, we have an incredibly resilient industry and opportunities on the horizon that I think as we work to grow domestic demand in that market access, those trade partners, we can have opportunities that will help in bringing that relief.”
Going forward, the report projects fewer government payments in 2027, which will cause Missouri’s net farm income to decrease by 16%.
