Three ways to sell, by how much you sell
-
Fewer than 30 dozen a week
Direct to the people who eat them
Florida law calls anyone who sells 30 dozen or more eggs in a week an egg "dealer". Sell fewer than that, straight to your customers, and you're not a dealer: no grading, candling or dealer permit for those sales.
Source: Florida Statutes 583.01.
-
Optional permit
Limited Poultry & Egg Farm permit
For small farms with up to 3,000 hens, still under 30 dozen a week. You sell in Florida only, at a roadside stand, a farmers market or by delivery. No mail order and no wholesale. Eggs go in clean, unused cartons labelled with your farm's name and address. It costs about $110/yr.
Source: Fla. Admin. Code 5K-4.033 (amended November 11, 2025, which raised the limit from 1,000 hens; the FDACS web page may still say 1,000) and FDACS.
-
30 dozen or more a week
A full dealer permit
Selling 30 dozen or more a week, or selling to stores and restaurants, takes a dealer permit from the state, with grading and inspection. That's beyond what this directory is built for.
Source: Florida Statutes 583.09.
Exempt seller
Sells under Florida's 30-dozen/week direct-to-consumer exemption.
Permitted farm
Holds a Limited Poultry & Egg Farm permit.
On GetLocalEggs.com, each Florida farm declares which fits it. Both get the same badge. Find Florida farms
Cartons, labels and keeping eggs cold
Some of these are required only in certain cases. All of them are what buyers expect.
-
Use clean cartons
Permit holders must use clean, unused cartons with the farm's name and address. For everyone, don't reuse a store brand's carton with its label showing.
-
Keep them at 45°F or below
Federal rules require eggs held for sale in stores to be kept at 45°F or colder. Whether that reaches a farm-gate sale isn't spelled out, but a cooler costs little and buyers notice.
-
Safe handling label
Egg cartons in commerce carry the federal "Safe Handling Instructions" statement. Adding it to yours is simple and tells buyers you know the rules.
-
Duck, quail and other eggs
Florida's egg law is written about chicken eggs. It doesn't say how duck or quail eggs are treated, so ask the state before you sell them in quantity.
Read Florida's rules from the source
- FDACS: Limited Poultry and Egg Farms, where to apply for the permit, or call FDACS Food Safety at 850-245-5520.
- Florida Statutes, Chapter 583, the classification and sale of eggs and poultry.
- Fla. Admin. Code 5K-4.033, the limited egg farm rule.
- UF/IFAS Extension, on selling eggs from a small Florida farm (2017; the hen limit has changed since).
- 21 CFR Part 115, the federal shell egg rules.
Three ways to sell, by where the eggs go
-
Your own flock, ungraded
Direct to the people who eat them
Texas's egg law doesn't apply to someone who sells only their own flock's eggs and doesn't claim a grade. Sell them ungraded, straight to the people who eat them, and you need no license from the Texas Department of Agriculture. There is no weekly dozen limit and no hen limit.
The state's egg rules ask one thing back: each carton says "Ungraded", then "Produced by" with your name, and your address.
A health permit is a separate question. The state's health guidance speaks plainly only about farmers markets, but Texas A&M AgriLife says anyone selling their own flock's eggs to the end customer needs one. Ask your city or county health department before you sell at your gate or a farm stand.
Source: Tex. Agric. Code §132.002, 4 TAC §15.2, §15.8 and Texas A&M AgriLife.
-
At a farmers market
A health permit for the market
Still no TDA license, but a market stall is a food business. You need a permit from the Department of State Health Services (DSHS) or the local health department, the eggs stay at 45°F or colder, and the cartons say "ungraded" with your name and address. At a Texas farmers market, every egg carton must include the "Safe Handling Instructions" statement. Egg cartons can't be reused.
A permit for a farmer selling straight to consumers lasts at least a year, costs no more than $100 a year, and covers every place you sell in that health department's area: markets, a farm stand, the farm.
Source: DSHS Regulatory Clarification No. 9, DSHS farmers' markets and Tex. Health & Safety Code §437.0065.
-
Stores, restaurants, resale or grading
A TDA egg license
Selling to a store or a restaurant, buying other farms' eggs to resell, or putting a grade on the carton takes an egg license from the Texas Department of Agriculture. A farm that grades its own eggs is licensed as a dealer-wholesaler, with a fee set by weekly volume. That's beyond what this directory is built for.
Source: Tex. Agric. Code §132.021, TDA Egg Quality Program and Texas A&M AgriLife.
Exempt seller
Sells its own flock's eggs, ungraded, straight to buyers under Texas law.
Licensed farm
Holds a Texas Department of Agriculture egg license.
On GetLocalEggs.com, each Texas farm declares which fits it. Both get the same badge. Find Texas farms
Cartons, labels and keeping eggs cold
In Texas the label and the 45°F line are rules, not just good practice.
-
Label every carton
"Ungraded", then "Produced by" with your name, and your address. On a plain carton you may print it by hand, legibly, on the top of the lid.
-
Keep them at 45°F or below
Texas's egg rules require packed eggs to be kept at 45°F or colder, and a market's health permit holds you to the same line.
-
Safe handling label
For yard eggs sold at a Texas farmers market, the carton must include the "Safe Handling Instructions" statement. If it is inside the lid, "Keep Refrigerated" must also appear on the principal display or information panel.
-
New cartons only
Egg cartons can't be cleaned well enough to use twice, so a permitted stall may not reuse them, and no seller may pack eggs in another producer's carton.
DSHS No. 9 and AgriLife
Read Texas's rules from the source
- TDA: Egg Quality Program, who needs an egg license and who doesn't, and how to apply.
- Texas Agriculture Code, Chapter 132, the egg law.
- 4 Texas Administrative Code, Chapter 15, TDA's egg rules: who is exempt, labels and storage.
- DSHS: Texas farmers' markets, the health permit for selling at a market.
- Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, "Selling Yard Eggs in Texas" (2022).
- 21 CFR Part 115, the federal shell egg rules.