June 7, 2025· 21 min

A Major American Egg Farm Just Lost 90% of its Chickens

Orality
Model
69%
Oral-dominant (speeches, podcasts, storytelling)

Speaker Breakdown

HostTracy Alloway(1,066 words)
M:28%
HostJoe Weisenthal(1,375 words)
M:93%
GuestGlenn Hickman(1,225 words)
M:28%

Oral Indicators

Agonistic37%
literally, completely, very
Engagement83%
you, our, your
Memory Aids100%
listen, now, so
Repetition100%
like (45x), know (41x), it's (29x)
Parallelism78%
And I'm Joe Weisenthal...., So, Joe, just a few months ago..., And fast forward to today, and...
Sound Patterns57%
25 question(s), alliteration: "markets move", alliteration: "barclays brief"
Formulaic Phrases9%
you know what, i mean

Literate Indicators

Hedging15%
maybe, might, could
Passive Voice5%
being rationed, was when, was carried
Abstract Nouns25%
investment, recommendation, question
Subordination11%
because, although, since
Sentence Length38%
Avg: 14.4 words/sentence
Word Complexity47%
investment, analyze, anticipate
Academic Markers0%
Impersonal Style17%
362 personal pronouns found
Descriptive Style76%
literally, completely, really

Description

Egg prices have come down a lot since their recent record and bird flu has largely faded from the headlines. But the epidemic is still raging and, per one farmer, risks becoming endemic in the US. Glenn Hickman is president of Hickman's Egg Ranch in Arizona, one of the largest egg producers in the US. You might remember him from our series last year, Beak Capitalism, in which we explored some of the thorniest issues facing the US economy through the medium of chickens. Well, news from the Hickman farm since then hasn't been good. A bird flu outbreak has led to the destruction of 90% of Glenn's chicken stock. We talk about the impact on Glenn's business, egg prices, and why the US isn't vaccinating its chickens. Check out Beak Capitalism Read more: To Understand America’s Egg Crisis, Look to China’s Pork  Only Bloomberg.com subscribers can get the Odd Lots newsletter in their inbox — now delivered every weekday — plus unlimited access to the site and app. Subscribe at bloomberg.com/subscriptions/oddlots See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.