Over 400 participants attended the 2024 UEP Area Briefings held in four virtual sessions on August 20 and 21. Presenters shared valuable information on current and future UEP and egg industry initiatives.

Each briefing started with opening comments by the Area Chairs. UEP’s president and CEO, Chad Gregory, reviewed various UEP Board motions from the 2024 Legislative Board Meeting that occurred in May and what they mean for the future of the organization.

Animal Health & Biosecurity

Oscar Garrison, SVP of food safety regulatory affairs, summarized recent HPAI detections, with a particular focus on confirmations in commercial livestock and the more than 190 positive dairy herds reported across 13 states. UEP continues to work with other barnyard groups on indemnity and vaccination strategies, which included a recent multi-species letter to United States Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack regarding HPAI vaccines. With fall migration around the corner, Garrison encourages all producers to maintain heightened biosecurity as the best defense to keep HPAI off farms.

Animal Welfare

During the animal welfare update, Dr. Larry Sadler, SVP of animal welfare, provided participants with updates to the UEP Certified program and announced the creation of various on-farm resources that will be released in the coming months. Sadler also gave an overview of state law updates on cage-free housing, noting that several states have pushed back compliance dates. The UEP Certified Cage-Free promotion is moving forward, and Sadler shared that the organization will launch its Unscrambled Egg campaign at UEP’s October meeting this fall.

In another important update, Sadler updated participants on the current state of in-ovo sexing worldwide and in the U.S. He also shared updates on the work of the UEP in-ovo sexing task force, which was established during the 2024 Legislative Board Meeting.

Food Safety and Government Relations

During the food safety regulatory updates, numerous USDA-AMS updates were shared, and producers were reminded that the FDA Traceability Rule will be effective January 20, 2026. UEP’s government affairs team continues to work on issues in Washington, D.C., focusing on issues such as the 2024 farm bill, the EATS Act, anti-checkoff legislation, and the WIC food rule’s impact on eggs and egg products.

Environment & Sustainability

Lauren Lurkins continues to support UEP on environmental issues as she has officially taken over for Tom Hebert who retired earlier this year. Gregory reported that UEP continues to engage on various issues with the US EPA, including the CAFO rule, emission estimation methods, air consent agreements, and rodenticides. UEP and the animal ag coalition were unable to amend the proposed standard to remove the reference to medium CAFOs and sprinkler requirements during the NFPA Technical Meeting. Still, appeals took place on Aug. 28, where Lurkins represented UEP and various other barnyard groups.

American Egg Board (AEB) Update

AEB president and CEO Emily Metz joined the Area Briefings to share an organizational update on recent AEB initiatives. AEB has launched its Meant to be Broken Campaign to accelerate demand among NexGen consumers by expanding eggs into new uses and more meal occasions. Metz also shared the FDA’s new definition for “healthy” that includes eggs, and that the announcement is expected sometime after Sept. 1. Metz shared initiatives from AEB’s Eggcelerator Lab and provided numerous scientific research updates, which included a recent study sponsored by Egg Nutrition Center that found eating eggs was associated with reduced risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.