Can I sell eggs in Indiana?

Do I need a license to sell eggs in Indiana?

The egg chapter says: “Farmers and other bona fide egg producers who sell and deliver, on the premises where produced, eggs produced by their own flocks on their own premises are exempt from this chapter” (IC 16-42-11-8). The State Egg Board’s licensing page puts it in one line: “No license is required if you sell only from the location where eggs are produced – consumers must pick up from that same location where chickens are located.” Neither source sets a number of hens or eggs above which the exemption ends.

A farmer or producer may still register: “A farmer or bona fide egg producer may apply for registration as a wholesaler or retailer under this chapter and may, upon application, after being registered receive a permit to sell eggs” (IC 16-42-11-9). The Board issues permits by where and to whom eggs are sold (below), for the year July 1 to June 30.

The Board’s definitions add a line about the internet: “online/delivery: utilizing an online platform to sell eggs with delivery to the end consumer requires a retail permit,” and its 2026 retail application says “Utilizing a virtual retail marketing platform to sell eggs that are delivered or shipped to the end consumer is considered a retail sale and requires a retail permit.” Both speak of delivery or shipping. The sources read do not say how the Board treats eggs listed or requested online and picked up at the farm, or a listing site that takes no payment. A farm that lists eggs or takes requests online should ask the Board before it does.

The Department of Health’s home-based vendor chapter says “IC 16-42-11 applies to the sale of eggs under this chapter” and that an individual vendor of a farmers’ market or roadside stand is exempt from the food establishment requirements “relating to the sale of eggs” (IC 16-42-5.3-11). The Department’s handbook says “If in-shell chicken eggs are sold off the farm, the vendor should register and follow the rules and regulations set by the Indiana State Egg Board.” The text of the code the Board hosts is its own 2018 copy of the chapter, and the Indiana General Assembly’s current text could not be opened for this page, so the section wording here is the Board’s copy.

Source: IC 16-42-11, State Egg Board, Licensing, State Egg Board, 2026 Retail Application and Department of Health, Home-Based Vendor Handbook.

How many eggs can I sell without a license in Indiana?

No hen or dozen limit turned up on the exemption. IC 16-42-11-8 excuses a producer’s own flock’s eggs sold and delivered on the premises where produced, and says nothing of volume. The numbers in the chapter are for permits. The Board’s fees follow the “30-dozen cases” a seller moves each week: “1 case of eggs = 30 dozen,” with a retail permit at $30 under 5 cases a week, $50 from 5 to 50 and $100 above 50 (370 IAC 1-12-2(b)). A wholesaler permit has its own steps, from under 5 cases a week ($50, with a semi-annual volume report) upward (370 IAC 1-12-2(c), (f)).

The Board’s 2026 retail application asks a seller of its own hens’ eggs how many hens it has. The sources read do not say what the Board does with the answer or whether any count changes a farm’s status.

A federal rule adds a line at 3,000 hens. FDA’s egg safety rule covers a farm with 3,000 or more laying hens “that does not sell all of your eggs directly to consumers” (21 CFR 118.1), and its words do not reach a farm under that line.

Source: IC 16-42-11, 370 IAC 1, State Egg Board, Licensing, State Egg Board, 2026 Retail Application and 21 CFR 118.1.

Can I sell eggs at a farmers market in Indiana?

Yes. The State Egg Board issues a farmers market retail permit, $20 a year. The statute says a farmer or producer “who markets directly to the consumer at a location that is not the farmer’s or producer’s own premises and is recognized as a farmers market may be required to have a farmers market retail permit issued by the state egg board” (IC 16-42-11-9.5(a)). A “farmers market” is “a common facility where two (2) or more farmers or growers gather on a regular basis to sell farm products, which they produce, directly to the consumer” (IC 16-42-11-1.1(3)). The Board’s page says the permit “is only for a farmer or bona fide egg producer who markets directly to the consumer at a location that is not the farmer’s or producer’s own premises,” and its application says it allows selling “ONLY eggs of your own production at a recognized farmers market.”

The same section says: “a local unit of government … may not by ordinance or resolution require any licensure, certification, or inspection of foods or food products of a farmer or bona fide egg producer acting under this section” (IC 16-42-11-9.5(b)). The Department of Health’s home-based vendor chapter adds that an individual vendor of a farmers’ market or roadside stand is exempt from the food establishment requirements relating to eggs (IC 16-42-5.3-11(b)). A market may still set its own vendor rules; the sources read do not speak to that.

A seller who also sells to stores or restaurants can take the combination permit ($50): it “allows sales as a wholesaler at a level of fewer than 5 cases (150 dozen) per week and the eggs must be your own production.”

Source: IC 16-42-11, State Egg Board, Licensing, State Egg Board, 2026 Farm Market Application, Department of Health, Home-Based Vendor Handbook and Department of Health, Farmers Market Guidance.

Can I sell eggs to a restaurant, a store or someone who resells them in Indiana?

Yes, as a wholesaler, and that takes a Board permit. The statute defines a wholesaler as a person buying eggs for resale to retailers, hotels, restaurants, hospitals, nursing homes, schools or state or federal institutions, “or producers who sell or deliver eggs to” them (IC 16-42-11-1.1(8)), and says a person may not sell as a wholesaler to those buyers “eggs for human consumption that are not subject to being reported as provided in this chapter” (IC 16-42-11-11(a)). The Board’s wholesaler permit is $50 a year under 5 cases (150 dozen) a week, with a semi-annual volume report, and rises with volume, with a deposit and quarterly reports from 5 cases up (370 IAC 1-12-2(c) to (f)).

The statute also says every person “selling eggs to a retailer shall furnish proof of delivery at the time of delivery,” showing the date, the grades and the quantity (IC 16-42-11-7(a)). The exemption in IC 16-42-11-8 covers eggs sold and delivered on the premises where produced, and a sale to a store or a restaurant delivered elsewhere is not that. The sources read do not say whether a restaurant that collects its eggs at the farm is inside the exemption. Ask the Board.

Source: IC 16-42-11, 370 IAC 1 and State Egg Board, Licensing.

Do I need to grade or label my eggs in Indiana?

The Board’s carton page says: “All egg cartons containing eggs offered for sale must include the following”: packer identification (a name and address, or a license number); grade (AA, A or B) and size (jumbo to pee wee); the date the eggs were packed; an expiration date, “15 days from the date of pack for Grade AA and 45 days from the date of pack for Grade A,” preceded by EXP, SELL BY, BEST BY or USE BY; and the federal safe handling statement in a hairline box. The rule says the same for “all eggs offered for sale in consumer packages” (370 IAC 1-3-2, 1-3-3, 1-6-1), adds that cartons must carry “labeling that indicates refrigeration is required,” and that grade and size marks apply to registrants’ packages.

The statute says a farmer who sells and delivers eggs from its own flock on the premises where produced is “exempt from this chapter” (IC 16-42-11-8), and the Board’s licensing page says no license is required for that sale. The carton page and rule do not say whether an exempt seller is held to the carton rules, and the sources read do not say whether it must mark grade and size. Ask the Board.

On reuse, the rule says: “All eggs offered for sale at retail shall be packaged in new consumer containers. Farmers market retail sales directly to the end consumer will be exempt from the requirement to utilize new consumer containers” (370 IAC 1-3-3.1, in the copy the Board hosts, which ends at a 2018 filing; the Board has since published a re-adopted rule, unread here). The rule’s exception names farmers market sales, not a sale at the farm. Federal rules put the "Safe Handling Instructions" statement on every carton of shell eggs (21 CFR 101.17(h)).

Source: IC 16-42-11, 370 IAC 1, State Egg Board, Carton Labeling, State Egg Board, Licensing and 21 CFR 101.17(h).

Do eggs have to be refrigerated to sell in Indiana, and at what temperature?

The Board’s rules set 45°F in three places, each for a named seller: a registered person “shall, upon delivery, provide adequate space and storage facilities to hold shell eggs at an ambient temperature of forty-five (45) degrees Fahrenheit or below” (370 IAC 1-2-1); “shell eggs at the retail store shall be stored and displayed at an ambient temperature of forty-five (45) degrees Fahrenheit or below” (1-2-2); and “All eggs packed in containers for the purpose of resale to consumers shall be transported under refrigeration at an ambient temperature no greater than forty-five (45) degrees Fahrenheit” (1-2-3). The carton statement tells the buyer to keep eggs refrigerated.

A farm selling only on the premises where the eggs are produced is “exempt from this chapter” (IC 16-42-11-8), and the rules are made under it. The sources read do not say whether the 45°F rules reach that farm, or a seller at a farmers market with a permit, beyond the carton statement. Ask the Board.

A federal rule says “all shell eggs, whether in intrastate or interstate commerce, held for retail distribution” are stored and displayed under refrigeration at an ambient temperature “not greater than 7.2 °C (45 °F)” at a retail establishment (21 CFR 115.50), and defines that as “an operation that stores, prepares, packages, serves, vends, or otherwise provides food for human consumption directly to consumers” (115.50(a)). The sources read do not say how that meets a farm’s own sale.

Source: IC 16-42-11, 370 IAC 1, State Egg Board, Carton Labeling and 21 CFR 115.50.

Can I sell duck, quail or other eggs in Indiana?

The Board says: “At this time, we regulate the sale of chicken eggs Only.” Its standards “are applicable only to eggs that are the product of the domesticated chicken hen and are in the shell” (370 IAC 1-1-1). The statute’s “eggs” are “shell eggs represented as fresh or treated” and name no bird (IC 16-42-11-1.1(2)).

The Department of Health’s handbook says of chicken eggs sold off the farm that the vendor should register with the Board, and of “All other in-shell eggs (quail, pheasant, duck, turkey, etc.) sold off the farm at a farmers’ market or roadside stand” that they “shall follow the rules set forth by IC 16-42-5.3-11,” the section exempting a farmers’ market or roadside stand vendor from the food establishment requirements relating to eggs. The sources read do not say what applies to a duck or quail egg sold on the farm, to a store or online. Ask the Board and the Department of Health for the species you raise.

Source: IC 16-42-11, 370 IAC 1, State Egg Board, Licensing and Department of Health, Home-Based Vendor Handbook.

Do I have to wash or candle eggs to sell them in Indiana?

The statute says “A person may not sell, offer for sale, or advertise for sale at retail or wholesale eggs that do not meet the standards of quality and weight set forth by the state egg board” (IC 16-42-11-6). The rule adopts the U.S. grade standards (370 IAC 1-1-3), says a candling light may be used “that will enable consistently accurate determination of the interior quality of shell eggs” (1-1-4), and sets washing rules for “shell egg grading plants”: potable wash water “at a temperature of ninety (90) degrees Fahrenheit minimum,” at least 20°F above the egg temperature, replaced at least daily, with approved cleaning compounds (1-10-1(e), (g)). It speaks of a plant’s equipment and does not say a farm must wash or candle.

A farm selling only on the premises where produced is “exempt from this chapter” (IC 16-42-11-8). The sources read do not say whether the quality standards in IC 16-42-11-6 or the plant rules reach it, or a permit holder selling at a market, or what a seller must do to show an egg is clean and sound. Ask the Board.

Source: IC 16-42-11 and 370 IAC 1.