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For Small Farmers, the Egg Shortage Has a Surprising Silver Lining
Lille Allen/Eater While major egg producers have struggled with avian flu, smaller egg farmers have found new demand Last November, Mike Trent, the owner of Trent Family Farms in Cloverdale, Oregon, started to notice that egg prices were going to get crazy. As the avian influenza crisis worsened among major egg producers across the country and prices began to trend upward, Trent knew that 2025 wasn’t going to be a normal year for eggs. But he also wasn’t especially worried. As it turns out, higher commodity egg prices are not really a bad thing for smaller producers, especially those who are focused on producing the best-quality eggs they can. As wholesale egg prices soared in January and February, Trent’s operation started picking up new customers. He’d previously been a supplier to top Portland restaurants like Ava Gene’s, Tusk, and Tournant, and currently operates an “egg subscription” program in which retail customers can buy their weekly dozen eggs in advance. “I was starting to pick up a few new clients, and they’re telling me what they’re paying for eggs, and it’s going up every single week,” Trent says. “Then in January, the phone calls really started coming. People wanted eggs from me because I never raised the price of my eggs.” While major egg producers like Perdue have invested in specialized biosecurity protocols intended to stop the spread of avian influenza at farms and production facilities, that wasn’t an option for Trent. His 2,500 or so birds have full access to pastures, which he believes results in both happier chickens and better-tasting eggs. “My chickens are 100-percent free range, no lockdown, no nothing, and they’ve stayed healthy,” he says. “But your big corporate farms, with their expensive biosecurity protocols and all the precautions, are still getting the bird flu.” Trent was able to keep his prices the same because the costs of maintaining his flock have remained relatively stable. Unlike commercial egg operations, in which chickens are crammed into crowded cages, the pasture-raised model may offer some natural insulation from the spread of avian influenza. According to the American Pastured Poultry Producers Association, all poultry is vulnerable to bird flu outbreaks, but the virus is most damaging to “intensely confined flocks found in the commercial poultry industry.” And although wild birds can spread avian influenza to pastured flocks, Trent’s hens have fortunately managed to avoid the virus so far. In fact, the avian influenza crisis has given Trent the opportunity to expand his business. He’s entered into a cooperative agreement with other nearby egg farmers so that he’s able to meet the demand for his eggs, which has risen significantly over the past few months. He’s hoping to bring more chickens into his flock, too — he says he needs somewhere around 10,000 to fully meet that increased demand. At the same time, he’s careful about which new clients he takes on, especially when it comes to restaurants, in order to ensure that this growth is sustainable. “My eggs have always been expensive — until this year, I should say — but my farm-to-table people who have been with me since I started doing this six years ago have always been willing to pay a little extra for a good product,” Trent says. “I’m a little bit leery with the bigger corporate restaurants, because they have bosses who are dictating to their chefs what they can spend on eggs, and when those commodity prices go back down, they’re going to drop me fast.” And although egg prices have already started to come down, Trent believes that his eggs, with their rich, nutritious yolks, really stand out in comparison to the average grocery store egg, and that more and more consumers are starting to realize that. His egg CSA has grown consistently over the past several months, and he’s now got nine coolers scattered across the Portland metro area where subscribers can pick up their weekly dozens. He’s only expecting those subscribers to increase in the coming months. “Once I get my eggs in front of somebody and they can see the quality, I think they’re going to stick with me,” he says. “And if the price is really similar, why wouldn’t you want the egg that tastes better?”
While major egg producers have struggled with avian flu, smaller egg farmers have found new demand
Last November, Mike Trent, the owner of Trent Family Farms in Cloverdale, Oregon, started to notice that egg prices were going to get crazy. As the avian influenza crisis worsened among major egg producers across the country and prices began to trend upward, Trent knew that 2025 wasn’t going to be a normal year for eggs. But he also wasn’t especially worried. As it turns out, higher commodity egg prices are not really a bad thing for smaller producers, especially those who are focused on producing the best-quality eggs they can.
As wholesale egg prices soared in January and February, Trent’s operation started picking up new customers. He’d previously been a supplier to top Portland restaurants like Ava Gene’s, Tusk, and Tournant, and currently operates an “egg subscription” program in which retail customers can buy their weekly dozen eggs in advance. “I was starting to pick up a few new clients, and they’re telling me what they’re paying for eggs, and it’s going up every single week,” Trent says. “Then in January, the phone calls really started coming. People wanted eggs from me because I never raised the price of my eggs.”
While major egg producers like Perdue have invested in specialized biosecurity protocols intended to stop the spread of avian influenza at farms and production facilities, that wasn’t an option for Trent. His 2,500 or so birds have full access to pastures, which he believes results in both happier chickens and better-tasting eggs. “My chickens are 100-percent free range, no lockdown, no nothing, and they’ve stayed healthy,” he says. “But your big corporate farms, with their expensive biosecurity protocols and all the precautions, are still getting the bird flu.”
Trent was able to keep his prices the same because the costs of maintaining his flock have remained relatively stable. Unlike commercial egg operations, in which chickens are crammed into crowded cages, the pasture-raised model may offer some natural insulation from the spread of avian influenza. According to the American Pastured Poultry Producers Association, all poultry is vulnerable to bird flu outbreaks, but the virus is most damaging to “intensely confined flocks found in the commercial poultry industry.” And although wild birds can spread avian influenza to pastured flocks, Trent’s hens have fortunately managed to avoid the virus so far.
In fact, the avian influenza crisis has given Trent the opportunity to expand his business. He’s entered into a cooperative agreement with other nearby egg farmers so that he’s able to meet the demand for his eggs, which has risen significantly over the past few months. He’s hoping to bring more chickens into his flock, too — he says he needs somewhere around 10,000 to fully meet that increased demand. At the same time, he’s careful about which new clients he takes on, especially when it comes to restaurants, in order to ensure that this growth is sustainable.
“My eggs have always been expensive — until this year, I should say — but my farm-to-table people who have been with me since I started doing this six years ago have always been willing to pay a little extra for a good product,” Trent says. “I’m a little bit leery with the bigger corporate restaurants, because they have bosses who are dictating to their chefs what they can spend on eggs, and when those commodity prices go back down, they’re going to drop me fast.”
And although egg prices have already started to come down, Trent believes that his eggs, with their rich, nutritious yolks, really stand out in comparison to the average grocery store egg, and that more and more consumers are starting to realize that. His egg CSA has grown consistently over the past several months, and he’s now got nine coolers scattered across the Portland metro area where subscribers can pick up their weekly dozens. He’s only expecting those subscribers to increase in the coming months. “Once I get my eggs in front of somebody and they can see the quality, I think they’re going to stick with me,” he says. “And if the price is really similar, why wouldn’t you want the egg that tastes better?”
