A Chino farm is attracting new customers. It’s egg economy
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Good morning. Here’s what you need to know to start your day.
- As egg prices soar, shoppers line up for fresh eggs at a farm.
- Lost in a sea of ash: When wildfire destroys a home — and a loved one’s urn — the search begins.
- On Catalina, you can now ride a horse on rolling hills to scenic cliffs.
- And here’s today’s e-newspaper.
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Local? Farm fresh? In this eggonomy?
Lately, buying eggs requires crossing your fingers and shelling out.
The national average price of a dozen eggs hit a record high of $4.95 in January, a result of the shortage driven mainly by the avian flu epidemic that’s doing a number on commercial farms. Prices are way higher in California, where some stores are charging more than $9 a dozen.
As SoCal residents seek a nice egg in this trying time, some are finding alternatives to the supermarket, such as Billy’s Egg Farm in Chino.
Billy and Michelle Mouw’s family farm has been hand-feeding their chickens and providing fresh eggs for 32 years.
The line of cars for their egg drive-through has been longer than usual lately. When I arrived 30 minutes before opening time, it stretched roughly a quarter-mile down the road.
How long would you wait for fresh eggs at a reasonable price?
Billy’s Egg Farm’s newfound popularity
“People have told people and now they’re coming and they find out that the eggs are really good and fresh and they want to come back,” Billy Mouw told me last week.
That freshness is the draw, he explained, because customers drive away with eggs that were laid by a hen within the last 24 hours.
The Mouws have about 30,000 chickens, though some had been taking some time off to shed and regrow their feathers. The farm, which limits each car to 100 eggs, had been selling out around noon, Mouw said.
The bird flu epidemic remains a major concern, he said, noting that the farm has biosecurity measures in place, including protective gear for workers and sanitation protocols.
“California has lost a tremendous amount of chickens and there is a heightened awareness of it all,” Mouw said.
Michelle Mouw runs the farm with her husband and family. Between taking orders, she told me the egg shortage is a good reminder for people “where your food all comes from and … that there’s a lot that goes into getting the food to the market.”
“You kind of realize now how much of what we eat, how many different food products include eggs,” she said.
What customers had to say
Jennie Skillern and her boyfriend switch off getting up early to stock up on eggs a couple of times a month. It was her turn Thursday, so she drove out from Rancho Cucamonga to get a spot in line around 6 a.m. — two hours before the farm opened.
“There have been times where we couldn’t get out here and so I would buy eggs at the grocery store and the prices are crazy,” she said.
Brooke Moon and her dad, Brian Moon, were among the first dozen customers parked alongside the road Thursday. They’ve been coming to Billy’s Egg Farm for years, going back to “when there was no line,” the elder Moon said.
“Since this bird flu’s come around, it seems like they are a bigger part of our diet because we go out of our way to get them,” he added.
Laura Avila doesn’t eat eggs herself but promised to whip up a batch of deviled eggs for her granddaughter’s birthday party over the weekend. The lines are “ridiculous” these days, she said, but she was willing to drive out and wait in line before work.
“These are fresh and they taste better because they’re fresh,” she said.
David Roldan drove out from Pico Rivera to stock up for his family, opting for the 100-egg max. He works in distribution for Kroger and told me he’s seen the egg shortage play out in real time by tracking the difference in the amount of eggs and where they’re going.
“The ones that are getting the eggs are the higher-end stores in the nicer areas,” he said. “I live kind of far from there, so this is my best bet.”
The bird flu outbreak in chickens is bad, but may be slowing
Since the official start of the outbreak on Feb. 8, 2022, 105 commercial flocks in California have been affected, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, resulting in the mass killing of more than 23 million chickens.
Outbreaks slowed in the state last month, with the last detection reported Feb. 13, based on the latest USDA data.
As of this writing, no outbreaks have been reported in either San Bernardino or L.A. county, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nationwide, there have been 70 known cases of human infection and one death, CDC officials report.
While the egg market is still dealing with “inadequate supplies,” a USDA report last week pointed to “signs that the situation may be beginning to improve.”
“While significant [avian flu] outbreaks continue to occur, the pace is slowing and most recent cases have been regionally isolated which is providing an opportunity for recovery efforts in other parts of the country to make progress,” officials wrote.
For more on the bird flu epidemic and its impacts, here is some of The Times’ recent coverage:
- Killing 166 million birds hasn’t helped poultry farmers stop H5N1. Is there a better way?
- As egg prices soar, Trump administration targets California law and H5N1 bird flu
- California is at the center of the country’s egg mess. Here’s why and what’s coming
- Just one mutation can make H5N1 bird flu a threat to humans, California researchers say
Today’s top stories
Palisades could rebuild with more affordable housing. But many in the wealthy area oppose the idea
- The owner of a burned Shell gas station in the Pacific Palisades is proposing the neighborhood’s tallest apartment building with plans to include units for low-income residents.
- Some homeowners and leaders in the rebuilding effort have expressed opposition, at times crudely, to new affordable housing.
- The fire destroyed 770 apartments covered by rent control. Landlords and tenants expect to struggle to return.
A 2018 law aimed to ‘Trump-proof’ California on immigration. What has it accomplished?
- The California Values Act limits cooperation between state and local law enforcement and federal immigration agents.
- The first Trump administration failed to overturn the law in court.
- Immigrant advocates worry that his new administration will encourage local governments to defy the law and that many residents remain at risk without more stringent protections.
Trump is expected to bring a message on expanded executive power to a diminished Congress
- The address comes six weeks into an administration that has shown greater command over the workings of federal bureaucracy than in Trump’s first term.
- Democratic lawmakers are strategizing how to handle the speech, fearful of becoming a foil to Trump on live television.
- Here’s how to watch.
What else is going on
- More wet weather, thunderstorms and snowfall are headed for the Los Angeles area this week.
- In Altadena, a fight to save the trees that survived the fire.
- DOGE firings provoke heated confrontations and shouts of ‘Nazi’ at Republican town halls.
- Newsom orders state workers to return to the office four days a week in California.
- That extra dab of guacamole on your burrito could cost more because of new tariffs.
- Foes of Mayor Karen Bass form a committee to raise money for recall bid.
- Contamination fears drive a push to remake the state cannabis agency.
- Gene Hackman death: Can pills, phones and photos unlock mystery?
- San Bernardino County supervisor has been accused of bullying and sexism by an ex-staffer.
- The feds charge ‘El Jefe,’ the alleged boss of a vast human smuggling network behind a deadly crash.
- Ukraine’s Zelensky says the end of war with Russia is ‘very, very far away.’
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Commentary and opinions
- How California helped Trump make English the official national language, columnist Gustavo Arellano writes.
- Trump, the GOP and DOGE have launched their attack on Social Security. You should start worrying now, writes columnist Michael Hiltzik.
- How do the Lakers set themselves up for a long postseason run? It starts at home, columnist Dylan Hernández writes.
- ‘Anora’s’ Oscars triumph is a much-needed win for workers, in Hollywood and beyond, film critic Amy Nicholson writes.
This morning’s must reads
Lost in a sea of ash: When wildfire destroys a home — and a loved one’s urn — the search begins. A husband-and-wife archaeology firm in Santa Rosa, Calif., has developed a process to find cremains, the kind kept in an urn, among ashes of burned houses. Specially trained dogs help find the ashes of people who had been cremated. They have worked 19 burn sites in recent years and recovered cremains from more than 300 destroyed homes.
Other must reads
- They were hiking in Big Sur when they heard chanting. Firefighters were marching in.
- ‘A lot of sacrifices’: During World Series run, the Dodgers were more banged up than they let on.
- One Laker player’s hope is for peace in Ukraine.
How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to [email protected].
For your downtime
Going out
- 🐴On Catalina, you can now ride a horse on rolling hills to scenic cliffs.
- 🎭‘44,’ a musical satire about Barack Obama by one of his campaign insiders, cuts up at the Kirk Douglas.
Staying in
- ‘The White Lotus’ — season three now streaming on Max — critiques luxury tourism while promoting it with partnerships.
- 💜💚💛 Here’s a recipe for Mardi Gras king cake with cream cheese and apple fillings.
- ✏️ Get our free daily crossword puzzle, sudoku, word search and arcade games.
A question for you: What’s your favorite local restaurant?
Every month, Times food writers put together a list of the best places to eat and drink in L.A. Do you have a favorite local eatery?
Email us at [email protected], and your response might appear in the newsletter this week.
And finally ... your photo of the day
Show us your favorite place in California! Send us photos you have taken of spots in California that are special — natural or human-made — and tell us why they’re important to you.
Today’s great photo is from Times contributing photographer Brittany Elizabeth Brooks from our Not Boring Rentals series. Mid-City resident Catie Brown gave her rent-controlled apartment a cottagecore update worthy of “Little Women.”
Have a great day, from the Essential California team
Ryan Fonseca, reporter
Defne Karabatur, fellow
Andrew Campa, Sunday reporter
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
Hunter Clauss, multiplatform editor
Christian Orozco, assistant editor
Stephanie Chavez, deputy metro editor
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters
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