MONTGOMERY TOWNSHIP, FRANKLIN COUNTY, Pa. (WHTM) -- The price of eggs continues to climb in Pennsylvania. Avian flu and strong demand are two major factors, but a big -- and growing -- local egg farm hopes to make a dent in all this.
Blue Springs Egg Farm in Franklin County only started producing about six months ago, but they are racing towards a production goal in the millions, hoping to be a major local source for people in the Midstate.
According to the USDA, egg production in Pennsylvania fell by 17 percent in January 2023, compared to the previous year. Blue Springs is working to fill that gap.
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The farm's environmental health and safety engineer Derek Stoy said he had very little experience in the industry before taking his current position.
"The most I knew about eggs was when I went to the store and bought them and cooked them," he said.
In the summer of 2022, Stoy joined the team at Herbruck's, which owns the Franklin County farm.
"The Herbruck family started a farm in Michigan in the 1950s," Stoy explained.
In 2022, the four-generation family of farmers opened Blue Springs to meet the growing demand for eggs they saw on the East Coast. Currently, Stoy said the farm has about 350,000 hens, but plans are in place to dramatically increase that number.
"In the next six to seven years, we'll be pushing 15 million eggs out the door weekly," he said.
However, with more than two million birds in the farm's future, avian flu has everyone on high alert.
"Of course in Pennsylvania, we seem to be the epicenter of it right now," Stoy said.
The farm is taking extra precautions with visitors, requiring them to wear Tyvek suits.
"We're spraying down with Lysol, disinfecting tires," production manager Russell Phenicie.
Employees also are taking measures to keep the hens safe.
"We have separate shoes and clothes that we wear in with the birds," Phenicie said.
Their goal: getting eggs into people's hands, depends on the hens' health.
"There's a lot of working behind the scenes that goes into producing that egg," Phenicie said. "Something like high path AI, if it comes in, then the entire site's considered infected."
Stoy said customers are like family. His goal with this farm is to give them the best.
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"To be part of that family breakfast or the family supper and anything like that is a huge honor for us," he said.
Blue Springs is expected to be at full capacity by 2027 or 2028, sending millions of eggs to grocery stores across the East Coast.
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