A young teenager shows that she’s not chicken about starting her own egg business.

Article & photos by Lori Rice

Egg layers are an essential part of many small farms. The reasons include food production and soil health and, perhaps, they extend to entertainment and companionship. When 14-year-old Lainey is asked why she started raising pastured egg layers, she responds: “It supplies a steady income.”

It’s not something you will hear most young farmers say, but Lainey is not an average teenager. She’s a young woman who has found a niche in a growing market, who sets long-term business goals and still manages to enjoy being a kid as she grows up on a small farm in rural California.

“I remember thinking: ‘Wow, my business can impact agriculture and change it,’” she says. “It was something I could do on my own, and pastured eggs are something new.”

While many areas across the U.S. have a well-established market of small farms producing pastured eggs, the southern part of California’s Central Valley does not. The location overflows with large-scale agricultural production. Many consumers there are just beginning to gain interest in obtaining food from small family farms. With that, an understanding of the benefits of eating pastured eggs is growing, too. Slowly, consumers are seeking them and willing to pay a fair price for what’s necessary to produce them.

Despite her age, Lainey runs a successful business and is looking to expand.

Lainey’s egg business will help pay for her college; perhaps she’ll be a poultry scientist!