INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Indiana ranks second among all states in egg production, in no small part thanks to Midwest Poultry Services, LLC (MPS). The operation, headquartered in Mentone, houses nearly 10 million laying hens that produce approximately 5 million eggs daily.

 

The company is the second-largest egg producer in Indiana and in the Top 10 nationwide. But the sixth-generation family farm didn’t start out that way.

MPS owners Bob, Sally and Dan Krouse spoke to a crowd in the Glass Barn at the Indiana State Fairgrounds on August 8, during the State Fair. Bob, who married into the MPS farm family, said it began in 1875 with a feed mill.

“They milled feed, flour, et cetera, through the mill,” he said. They eventually became a feed distributor and later began production.

“In the 1960s they got a couple thousand chickens to start; we have 10 million chickens today.”

The egg operation is vertically integrated, according to Bob, who explained to the non-farming audience that means the birds are raised on-site from birth and the Krouses make their own feed. Their employees collect, grade, wash, package, store and prepare the eggs for shipping. Any misshapen or cracked,

but not broken, eggs are sent to a place where they’re pasteurized and used by bakeries and other commercial establishments.

“We don’t work directly with restaurants,” Bob explained. “We ship to groceries or large food distributors.”

Their eggs are then sold under the grocer’s name, Dan added. For instance, he said Kroger is one of their customers.

Dan went into a little more detail for one person who asked how long it takes an egg to get from hen to store. He said the hens lay their eggs between 8-10 a.m. The eggs fall onto a conveyer belt, where they’re carried to be washed and sorted – some by robotic arms, others by human hands.

The eggs are then placed into cartons; the cartons are packed into cases and placed in a cooler, where they may remain about a day. “The robotic arm handles them in a better way than humans,” he explained in answer to another question. “The robot does the exact same thing every time, so once you get it set, it never changes.”

Bob said, “Every year we have a billionand-a-half eggs. Our loss is well under 1 percent.”

This type of efficiency isn’t the only improvement since the operation began; he said animal welfare also is better. “In the (19)60s, most birds were in the barnyard,” he said, adding that created problems with parasites, predators, disease and weather exposure. “(Indoors) it’s easier to maintain temperatures and protect them from predators – and each other.”

While non-farmers may picture laying hens confined to tiny cages all their lives, a video on the MPS website shows their hens with the space and capability to move around. Bob said MPS has a veterinarian on staff to see to poultry vaccinations and overall health, and their employees are trained in proper bird handling.

The operation is certified by the United Egg Producers and is an Indiana State Certified Livestock Handler.

“Biosecurity has always been an important part of the farm, but it’s advanced since the avian flu outbreak a few years ago,” Dan added. “I can’t evengo into the buildings.” 

 

He said there’s a locker room where employees must change before they go inside the buildings, and there are truck washes with disinfectant for vehicles that come onto the farms. Bob added the family cannot have personal birds on the farm – for a 4-H project, for example – because of the risk of crosscontamination.

Asked if she cooks chicken, Sally said she does, but not their chickens, because laying hens are different from broilers. The Krouse family does get to enjoy its eggs, though.

“I eat scrambled eggs almost every morning,” Sally said, adding, “Egg custard is the ultimate comfort food.” MPS hens produce about 5 million eggs a day, according to the company website, and the eggs have a distribution range of more than 2,000 miles. “Eggs packaged today are on the shelf within the week,” Dan said. “It’s possible to make it in one day.”

In Indiana, he said, the date on the carton must be 30 days out. To ensure product safety and happy customers, MPS continues its quality control off the farm all the way to the store. Quality control team members randomly check coolers and displays, as well as the packaging, the date and time stamps and the eggs themselves. Feedback is reported to the buyer, and suggestions are made to help control inventory shrinkage.

Anyone wishing to know where their store-brand eggs originated can find an identification number on the carton, Bob explained, and use it to look up the processing plant on the USDA website.

Featured Farmer chats were brought to the 2017 Indiana State Fair by Dow AgroSciences and presented daily by  the Indiana Soybean Alliance to give fairgoers insight into farm life and how their food is raised.