HAMILTON, Mich. – Producers in Michigan left scrambling for eggs because of COVID-19 didn’t have as many to donate to the hungry last year. Nevertheless, they still managed to shell out more than 3 million eggs to food-challenged homes.

The donations were made by members of Michigan Allied Poultry Industries, a still farmer-led organization formed in 1940 to advance the state’s poultry industry.

More than 5 million eggs were donated by MAPI members in 2019.

Allison Brink, executive director of MAPI, said producers had fewer eggs to give due to higher demand at grocery stores from people eating more at home because of the pandemic.

Especially in the first few months of the pandemic, some grocery stores ran out of eggs before receiving fresh shipments. Many retailers placed limits on how many could be purchased at one time to stretch supplies.

“The increased demand at grocery stores created logistical challenges for farms as stores were greatly increasing their orders to keep their coolers and shelves stocked,” Brink said.

Brink said producers also sold a percentage of their surplus eggs to non-profits for the same cause at well below market value.

“Michigan’s family egg farms are incredibly generous and continue to be invested in their communities, making sure as many people as possible have access to healthy, local protein,” she said.

In many cases, eggs are donated by producers on a set schedule to organizations for distribution to the needy.

Brink said the Holland Rescue Mission goes to Schipper Eggs weekly to receive donations. Other non-profit groups seeking eggs make formal requests that develop into long term working relationships.

“Each farm has relationships with non-profit organizations in their local area. Community is important to our farmers and they work to build those relationships,” she said.

MAPI has roughly 100 members.

The membership includes farms along with people involved in the industry in other capacities.

Brink said the seven family-owned farms in Michigan are members and most of the donated eggs are from the western part of the state. Some of the donated eggs come from a farm in Pigeon on the east side of the state. About half of the donated eggs last year came from Herbrucks Poultry Ranch in Saranac outside Grand Rapids.

Other contributors included DeWeerdt Poultry Farm, Farm Crest Foods, Sunrise Acres Egg Farm, VandeBunte Eggs and Zoet Poultry. Among the other recipients were Hungry for Christ, People Helping People, Food Bank of Eastern Michigan, Feeding America West Michigan and Flat River Outreach Ministries.

MAPI also represents chicken and turkey farmers along with their breeders, hatcheries and pullet growers.

According to USDA, Michigan is sixth in the nation for egg production at 4.3 billion eggs annually.

About one-third of the eggs in the United States come from Iowa, Ohio and Indiana. Iowa is the leading producer at just more than 17 billion eggs a year while Ohio and Indiana are nearly tied at about 10 billion eggs annually, USDA said.

According to USDA, 87 percent of the eggs produced nationwide are used for consumption while the rest are fertilized for producing chickens.