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Farmer's Perspective on Egg Crisis, from Joe Wanda of Wanda Farms

Writer's picture: Bob BenensonBob Benenson

Sees Situation as Symbolic of Fragility of Conventional Food System



Laying hens on pasture and in their coop at Wanda Farms in the north-central Illinois city of Harvard. Photo taken by Bob Benenson in June 2024
Laying hens on pasture and in their coop at Wanda Farms in the north-central Illinois city of Harvard. Photo taken by Bob Benenson in June 2024

Local Food Forum has been publishing a lot about the national egg shortage resulting from a contagion of avian flu. So my eye was caught by the latest newsletter from Joe Wanda, who practices and advocates for regenerative agriculture at his Wanda Farms in Harvard, located in north-central Illinois.


Joe, whose farm I visited last June, had just returned from the American Pastured Poultry Producers Association (APPPA) in Dallas where — apart from some fun that included a rooster-crowing competition — there was a lot of discussion about the impact of avian flu.


In his newsletter, Joe noted that while some small farms have been affected, the bigger part of the avian flu crisis has been felt in factory farms where crowded conditions have enabled the deadly disease to spread like wildfire. He goes on to describe the precautions that Wanda Farms is taking to prevent a spread to its birds.


But moreover, he expresses his view that the egg shortage is symbolic of the fragility of the dominant conventional food system, as he calls for a major shift to more sustainable practices.


"I think it shows us again how our food system may be in a bubble that can POP at any moment - and reconfirms our commitment to transform agricultural food production from a commodity to a service that nourishes our local community with not only sustainable food, but food of superior quality."


The full newsletter is reprinted below with Joe Wanda's permission.



Birds at Wanda Farms inside a chicken tractor, a covered mobile installation that enables the chickens to graze on pasture protected from predators and wild birds that may carry disease. Photo by Bob Benenson
Birds at Wanda Farms inside a chicken tractor, a covered mobile installation that enables the chickens to graze on pasture protected from predators and wild birds that may carry disease. Photo by Bob Benenson

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This past week I was at the APPPA Conference in Dallas, where I had the pleasure to visit and collab with many other pastured-poultry farmers.


It is a 3-day conference which will drastically help improve our pasture-raised poultry management. 


But not without any fun social activities!! One includes the rooster crow competition. You can watch Aaron’s crow (our poultry manager) here if you want a laugh.


LOL, but I digress.


A big topic at the conference was Avian Influenza, aka:


BIRD FLU.


I assume most of you all have heard about it in the news recently. While there’s been some speculation that it’s just a deliberate hoax created to cause food shortages, I can tell you from my perspective that it is REAL.


A few of these pastured-poultry producers at the conference had experienced an outbreak on their farm at one point. 


However, most farms being affected by the bird flu are the large, factory commercial operations, and you might be indifferent to it, but it actually SIGNIFICANTLY impacts your day-to-day life.


(I'll tell you why later in this email...)


It’s honestly very sad that in many of these large operations, hundreds of thousands to even MILLIONS of birds can just get wiped out in the snap of fingers. 


But this is nothing new, as this 'AI' bird flu has been around in the poultry industry since 2016.


In 2022, however, it started to affect the industry SIGNIFICANTLY. 


ANY farms with flocks that show signs of this flu must report it to USDA vet officials immediately and quarantine their farms with no birds for 150 days before bringing new flocks back to the farm.


It is even recommended to cull all living birds right away to prevent the spread further.


If you are curious, you can see how it’s affecting each state in real time here. 


So, what’s Wanda Farms’ plan? 


We plan to continue on as normal...


We ALREADY take all the necessary precautions, which are somewhat 'common sense' (but common sense ain't that common, huh?).


For example...


If we visit another poultry farm or our chicken processing facility, we will wash our boots. And even our clothes, if necessary.


Just COMMON SENSE (being divinely protected helps too, ig).


As we did during the Covid outbreak: 


Don’t stick your fingers in other people’s mouths!!


For our farm, it’s unrealistic to lock down our birds inside their houses with NO access to pasture just to “prevent the risk of infection”.


If anything, the only reason they get sick would be because we locked them inside (poor birds), AND by locking our birds inside, they would NOT be "pasture-raised," and we are NOT going to change our egg operation from pasture-raised to 'cage-free.' 


And by the way… did you know that some brands advertising as pasture-raised... like cough cough ...Vital …are doing EXACTLY this and STILL sell them as pasture-raised?!


Isn't that misleading?


Anyways, some folks might say we are in a high-risk situation as a pasture-raised farm, as wild birds could potentially come in contact with our chickens.


I don’t disagree…..


I’m actually trying to fight my insurance company right now to insure all of our farm’s poultry.


I guess they're also scared of the recent outbreaks and don’t want to take on that liability. (FARMING is very high-risk. Anyone in this biz who wants to succeed likely has to be driven by something outside of themselves).


Now, to continue about how this impacts YOUR day-to-day life.


Economics 101: Chickens die from flu = no chickens... And with no chickens, who's gonna lay all these eggs?


When there's only so much eggs, everyone is fighting to get their hands on 'em before anyone else does, and thus DEMAND increases. 


Which means: prices go uppp!! (But you already know that, haha.) And you'll thus have to pay MORE for the SAME dozen eggs.


We are currently getting incredible pressure from existing wholesale accounts for more eggs. And our wholesale prices and retail prices are less than the commodity-priced caged white eggs on the open market. 


We recognize this demand and need for eggs, and are doing what we can to expand… but it might take some time. I’m going to sign papers on a 80k loan to purchase upgraded layer poultry equipment, which will increase the flock by another 60%.


So yes, I’m invested in this. 


We will be doing some pricing adjustments on our eggs in the next week or 2, and might need to implement a maximum purchase quantity if things get real crazy.


I do expect this 'situation' to continue for most of 2025 as it’s going to take time for the big flocks to recover from these blows. 


Now that farming has changed from small family farms to industrial megafarms, it ONLY takes a few to get hit for the entire food supply to feel the blow. 


All this said, I think it shows us again how our food system may be in a bubble that can POP at any moment - and reconfirms our commitment to transform agricultural food production from a commodity to a service that nourishes our local community with not only sustainable food, but food of superior quality.


Our prayers go out for all the farms taking these losses, and we pray for this to evoke a big positive change to our food system.


God bless,

Farmer Joe


Farmer Joe Wanda. Photo by Bob Benenson.
Farmer Joe Wanda. Photo by Bob Benenson.

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You can purchase Wanda Farms meats, eggs and other farm products for delivery via their e-commerce site. They are also participating in indoor winter farmers markets in three Illinois communities — Crystal Lake, Batavia and Chicago's Edgewater neighborhood — and in Oak Brook, Wisconsin; these markets are not weekly, so make sure to check this schedule for their dates.


 

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