Excerpts from the report Preface: The present system of pricing eggs has been the subject of continued and intense discussion in the egg industry for more than a decade. In 1966, Congress appropriated special funds to the Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, for a study in depth of how market eggs are priced and what can be done to effect needed improvements. Since that time, a program of research on egg pricing has been carried out by the Economic Research Service in cooperation with the Consumer and Marketing Service and 13 State agricultural experiment stations. This report discusses the characteristics of the present egg pricing system, the reasons why an egg pricing problem exists, and evaluates various courses of action which might be taken to improve or replace the present system. The findings of this report are based on the many contributing studies which will be published separately by the agencies and State agricultural experiment stations which conducted them.