Monday, January 6, 2014

Brothers, 17 & 21, Raise Free Range Eggs on Large Scale

Via Cousin John


 This should perk up Phyllis. :)

For the past couple years, I’ve made a point of buying a dozen or so eggs from two young farmers who are regulars at the Columbia, Missouri, Farmers’ Market. They look so much alike that I figured they must be brothers, and I used to think they might even be high schoolers, earning a little extra money on their parents’ farm. I was right about their ages — one of them is still in high school. But I was completely wrong about the “little extra money” idea.

It turns out that the young farmers are the owners of Stanton Brothers Eggs, which according to the USDA, makes them one of the largest independent free-range egg producers in the United States.

This year, the brothers raised 12,000 chickens that laid upward of 1 million eggs. On good days, the Stantons’ mother, Judy, delivers 600-dozen eggs to local grocery stores, college dining halls and restaurants.

The family farm near Centralia, Missouri, is where their story takes place.

More @ Grit

4 comments:

  1. Just saw this - thanks for thinking of me! I give those boys a lot of credit. Their hens look well cared for and happy. It is an awful lot of work to accomplish what they did. I cannot imagine caring for all those hens all the time! My little flock wears me out sometimes. Great story, Mr. Townsend!

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    1. I'm sure they have help. They ought to be able to afford it. :)

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