Post buys Oregon’s largest egg producer

Cereal company Post Holdings Inc. bought Oregon’s largest egg producer, the company announced Wednesday.

Post paid $90 million for Willamette Egg Farms, said a spokeswoman for the company. The acquisition comes in the midst of rising egg prices as the United States Department of Agriculture kills chicken flocks to contain a bird flu outbreak.

Willamette Egg Farms, which has farms in Canby, Ore., and Moses Lake, has been family owned and operated for more than 80 years. St. Louis-based Post Holdings plans to combine Willamette with its existing egg business Michael Foods. The Associated Press reports that could happen in the beginning of its 2016 fiscal year.

Michael Foods largely serves industrial kitchens with liquid and pre-cooked egg products, and eggs used in food ingredients.

Egg prices are as high or higher than the price of chicken meat in some places these days, after 50 million birds have been killed. The avian flu outbreak has touched the Northwest, with outbreaks throughout Oregon and Washington.

The egg industry said this week that the end of high prices should be in sight and officials hope prices drop within 12 to 15 months.