A tough egg to crack

Scrambled, over-easy, poached or hard-boiled—any American who eats eggs likely has a preference for how they are cooked.

Chicken eggs are a staple in the American diet, with the average person consuming about 280 each year, reflecting a 10% increase compared to 20 years ago.

It’s no surprise, then, that consumers are decrying the current price of a dozen eggs, with some areas facing empty shelves once filled with cartons. Prices have surged in recent months, with the latest reports showing an average price of $4.95 in January 2025, up 80 cents from December 2024.

While food prices have risen across the board, the culprit sabotaging the supply of America’s favorite breakfast staple is a highly contagious strain of avian influenza or “bird flu.”

Bird flu is a general term used to describe avian influenza type A viruses, each strain having varying degrees of severity. The current epidemic is due to the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) variant specifically referred to as H5N1, which was first detected in a commercial poultry flock in February 2022. As a highly contagious and deadly respiratory disease, it can spread from migrating wild birds to domestic flocks and devastate poultry farms. Furthermore, while it presents a low risk to humans, avian influenza can spread to other livestock, with an outbreak of HPAI in dairy cattle first reported in March 2024.

Among the nation’s leading poultry and egg producers, Missouri chicken farmers face a serious risk from HPAI. In a commercial operation where thousands of birds are housed together, a single infection can result in the destruction of the whole flock to contain the virus and prevent further spread.

“All it takes is a speck the size of a piece of pepper for them to get it,” said Cassi Drechsel, who operates a commercial egg operation with her husband, Tanner, in Pilot Grove, Mo. “One of the biggest challenges is just making sure everyone’s clean and not carrying anything in.”

Since the outbreak began in 2022, millions of commercial birds have been lost, with states like California and Iowa experiencing particularly high losses of 23.7 and 30.2 million birds, respectively. Missouri’s commercial losses have not been as severe, but since the start of 2025, outbreaks have dramatically spiked, totaling more than 4.4 million birds at the time of writing. Unfortunately, three cases in southwest Missouri involved commercial egg-laying operations, with each losing over 1 million birds.

It’s a tough situation for both farmers and consumers, but egg producers such as the Drechsels are determined to continue operations while doing everything possible to protect their hens from an HPAI outbreak. Tanner and Cassi started their business, aptly named Drechsel’s Dozens, about a year ago. They are contracted with Vital Farms, which supplies pasture-raised eggs to grocery stores and food service companies across the country.

Vital Farms was founded in 2007 on the principle of “ethical eggs from happy hens,” with layers safely housed in barns but also allowed to roam freely in outdoor pastures. Beyond being cage-free, these pasture-raised hens have a minimum outdoor space of 108 square feet per hen with daily access year-round.

The company now works with more than 425 family farms across the lower Midwest, a region that Vital Farms describes as the “Pasture Belt.” Of those farms, nearly 200 are in Missouri, and Vital Farms is currently working to expand its farmer network in the state.

Before starting their own operation, Cassi was familiar with commercial egg production through her siblings. “My sister and my brother also have a barn, and I really liked helping them,” she said.

Tanner helps run the family’s Drechsel Angus Farms, and he and Cassi own and operate Drechsel Trucking and Lime Spreading, but the couple wanted another business they could develop together.

“Tanner was looking for something that we could do as a family,” said Cassi, including their three children—Tezlee, 7, Gunner, 3, and Lona, 8 months.

Since two of Cassi’s family members had contracted with Vital Farms with positive experiences, the Drechsels decided to sign a four-flock, five-year contract with the national egg producer as well. The company offered an attractive sign-on bonus, which would quickly jumpstart the operation by helping build the new barn and purchase their first flock of pullets (young hens).

From the beginning, the operation was built with pasture-raised standards in mind. After closing on their new property last May, Tanner began to clear the heavily wooded land for pasture. With fencing supplies purchased from MFA, he enclosed 60 acres that were divided into eight paddocks so the hens’ pasture area can rotate every 21 days, which allows the land time to regenerate. Next came a concrete floor for the 500-foot-long barn and then the construction of the barn itself, complete with heaters and an automated food and watering system.

The Drechsels had to be operational in less than 6 months, and on Oct. 17, they received their first flock of 20,000 16-week-old pullets. “The biggest challenge was getting everything done in the short amount of time that we had to get it all done,” Tanner said.

Although construction moved quickly, the Drechsels said they appreciated the support and guidance from Vital Farms along the way, such as site visits from a company technician to ensure they met standards.

“They are very farmer-friendly, and they care about you and your farm,” Cassi said. “They’ve been very helpful to us if we needed something.”

Vital Farms also has specific guidelines for what the hens eat, in addition to foraging. Each time the Drechsels need feed, they work directly with a Vital Farms nutritionist, who prescribes a specific ration. The ration is then mixed at MFA Agri Services in Fayette and delivered to their farm. While their egg layer ration is similar to other commercial rations, one additional ingredient is paprika, which helps the yolks have a darker hue.

In addition to Drechsel’s Dozens, MFA supplies feed to 14 more operations contracted with Vital Farms from its feed mill in Mountain Grove, Mo., and several new operations in Arkansas from its facility in Aurora, Mo.

The Drechsels’ operation is now at peak production, collecting more than 19,000 eggs per day. That may sound like a daunting task, but the hens’ nesting boxes are positioned over a conveyor belt that carries the eggs out of the barn to an automated sorter, which loads them onto 30-egg trays that are then manually placed onto pallets. However, sometimes the hens don’t lay in the nesting boxes, so Tanner or Cassi walks the length of the barn each day to gather any stray eggs.

Collecting, sorting and loading are the only tasks as the eggs will not be washed until they are processed at Vital Farms’ Egg Central Station egg-washing and packing facility in Springfield, Mo. The minimal labor required allows Tanner and Cassi to manage the operation themselves while caring for their children. On a typical day, Tanner arrives early in the morning to collect stray eggs, and Cassi comes later with Gunner and Lona to operate the belt until about 10:30 a.m. In the afternoon, after Tezlee finishes school, Cassi and the children operate the belt once again and collect any remaining stray eggs.

“It’s a pretty easy job that you could do with your kids,” said Cassi. “And we get done by 5:00 every day.”

Typically, the hens start having access to pasture at 22 weeks with full access by 24 weeks, but they currently remain indoors to protect them from active HPAI infections, including two cases at a commercial turkey operation in the same county in December. The Drechsels also have heightened biosecurity measures to protect the hens from themselves as caretakers.

Tanner and Cassi said they are hopeful that, as in previous years of the outbreak, migratory birds will soon move on, leading to the end of active cases. When it’s finally safe, the hens will then be free to explore the acres of grassy pasture waiting for them beyond the barn.

For more information about the HPAI outbreak and active Missouri cases, visit the Missouri Department of Agriculture’s website at agriculture.mo.gov/avian-influenza.php. If you suspect the virus in your poultry, contact your veterinarian and the MDA’s Animal Health Division at 573-751-3377. To learn more about Vital Farms, including contract opportunities, visit vitalfarms.com.

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