Eggs have become a significant topic of discussion in recent times, particularly in light of the challenges facing the commercial food system. The ongoing prevalence of avian influenza in commercial henhouses has raised serious concerns, largely due to overcrowded and inadequate living conditions. When one hen contracts the virus, it can quickly spread throughout the entire flock. Another troubling issue in the commodity egg market is the collusion among some producers to inflate egg prices.

I spoke with John Esh of Sunny Harvest to get insight into the challenges they are currently facing. I’m excited to share a brief excerpt from my hour-long conversation with John, a dedicated egg farmer and the esteemed president of the Sunny Harvest Growers Collective. We exclusively started carrying Sunny Harvest eggs in 2022 and have only increased prices twice, which was a direct result of rising costs for the farmers.

Q: Why did you get into raising hens?

A: I was a carpenter at the time, and I wanted to work at home with my family. Farming was a way I could do that, and I figured I would start with chickens. I started off with 800 birds. I struggled to find markets. I didn’t make but a dollar—well, maybe two dollars. The second year was a little better. Now, 14 years later, I have 4,000 birds.

Q: Tell me a little bit about your chickens and what a normal day looks like for them.

A: Well, they lay in the morning, and then we let them out a little before noon. Around 10 or 11 o’clock. They have 2.5 acres to roam on. The area right around the chicken house is mostly dirt, not a ton of grass. And that’s cause… Well you know birds, they love scratching. And they love dirt. They like a dirt bath every day. That’s the only way they are happy. 20 - 30 of them will make hole scratching and pecking and will go down 2 - 3 feet deep. That’s the nature of a bird, I guess. About ¾ of the 2.5 acres is grass.

Q: What time do you bring them in?

A: Well, you can’t chase birds. They come in when they are ready. Always before dark. We go in there in the late afternoon and gather the eggs. Then we are up the next morning packing eggs around 5 o’clock

Q: Who all is packing with you?

A: My wife and our daughters. It's just family help. It's a family job, and we are a small farm family. We value that time together. We like it the way we have it. If I had a 10,000 - 15,000 bird farm, I wouldn’t pack or wash them. I like to pack my own eggs. I like to know where they are going. I know the customers. It's a satisfied feeling. It's a passion I got, I guess.

If I had 15,000 birds, well, I would be under contract—growing for someone else. It's a big operation, and I’d need big equipment. The bank wouldn’t give me the money. It would be at least a million dollars for that kind of chicken house.

Q: Could you see yourself running an operation where the birds didn’t go outside?

A: Nope. I have no interest. I enjoy seeing the birds out in the pasture. You look out there and you see a couple thousand birds spread out—happy birds pecking away.

Q: What originally prompted this phone call was that you were calling to let us know that you would like to raise your prices and you wanted to see if we would be able to accommodate that. What will you guys do with the increased prices we and our customers pay?

A: Well, our packaging and equipment prices are up 25 - 30%. That has been going on for a couple of years now, and we haven’t raised prices. So, part of it would adjust for that. Then it would also help me make a couple of updates to my chicken houses. Help me protect against the bird flu. I’d also like to cover part of the outside area so the birds can go out when it's raining. Plus, we all got loans. Interest payments are up. This would help us make those payments. Decrease some of the stress we all feel. Allow us to spend more quality time with our family.

During my enlightening conversation with John Esh, a dedicated egg farmer at Sunny Harvest, I discovered not only his initial motivation for entering the farming world but also his enduring passion for it. This engaging dialogue deepened my appreciation for the tremendous effort required to provide my family with fresh eggs each week. Furthermore, it illuminated the complexities and stresses of managing both the business and production aspects of a farm.