Grocery shoppers can't help but feel frustration when a staple like eggs sees rapid price swings.
One Minnesota farmer is helping her neighbors by offering a quality product that's not only predictable with costs, but also an excuse for social interactions.
Egg prices are trending lower since supplies recovered from bird flu outbreaks. But Brittney Johnson said record highs from last year are still on her mind as she nears the first anniversary of the egg cooperative on her northwestern Minnesota farm.
How Blue Hen Egg Co-op works is, a member signs up for $10 a month, and gets a dozen eggs each week.
Johnson said at $2.50 a carton, that gives community members peace of mind in case the market unravels. Excess supplies are donated to neighbors in need.
"For us, people like to know where their food is coming from and they like to support good companies, but those can be hard to come by for food products," Johnson said. "And so, the natural solution is just to start your own. And all of the co-op members have become my best friends, so that's been really fun!"
Johnson, who is also membership outreach coordinator for Northwest Minnesota with the Minnesota Farmers Union, said she often delivers the eggs herself and recycles the cartons. The chickens are raised through rotational grazing, limiting harmful elements from reaching local waterways.
Right now, the co-op is small and there's a waiting list, and Johnson said she likes it that way. She said a challenge is limiting any temptation to scale up and create food production side effects she said she's trying to avoid with this model.
Johnson said she recently invested in a specialized farm wagon so she can buy chicken feed directly from the local grain elevator, potentially lowering those costs by 40% to 50%. It all adds up to an operation built around flexibility.
"Sometimes people pay three months at a time," Johnson said, "sometimes they pay one month. And then sometimes, they pick up their eggs every one week or every two weeks, whatever works for the people in the co-op."
Johnson also raises sheep on her property, but farming isn't even her full-time job. She also works for a local power company, and suggests these side ventures in agriculture underscore what life is often like in farming communities — folks wearing many hats to keep their heads above water.
She added that the egg co-operative bring some joy, and a price break, to friends and family in the same boat.
