Can I sell eggs in New Hampshire?

Do I need a license to sell eggs in New Hampshire?

The Department of Agriculture, Markets, and Food answers on its egg page: “No, there is no state license required from the NH Dept. of Agriculture, Markets, and Food (NHDAMF) or the NH Dept. of Health & Human Services (NHDHHS).” The egg subdivision of the statute (RSA 428:22 through 428:29) sets up no license, permit or fee for selling eggs. Since August 4, 2026 it also says: “Producers who sell exclusively from their residence, farm store or stand, or to local stores and/or establishment shall label their eggs in accordance with RSA 428:23, but otherwise shall not be subject to RSA 428:22 through RSA 428:24 and RSA 428:25 through RSA 428:29” (RSA 428:24-a). The exemption names a residence, a farm store or stand and local stores. It does not name a farmers market, and it says “exclusively,” so the sources do not say how it treats a farm that sells in more than one of those ways.

The one permit in the sources is the Seal of Quality. A packer of New Hampshire shell eggs “may use the state of New Hampshire seal of quality design after receiving a yearly permit from the department,” for eggs that are sized, graded AA or A and packed in “new, clean, and sound cartons” (Agr 1003.03). The Department’s Seal of Quality page prices it at $13 for eggs. It is a quality mark a farm chooses, and nothing in the sources makes it a condition of selling.

The Department of Health and Human Services licenses food service establishments and retail food stores (RSA 143-A:4). A retail food store “does not include establishments which handle only prepackaged, not potentially hazardous foods; roadside markets or farm stands” (RSA 143-A:3, VII), and the definition of a food service establishment lists a “roadside stand” among its examples and closes with “any other eating and drinking establishment or operation in which potentially hazardous food is served or provided for the public” (RSA 143-A:3, IV). The text of RSA 143-A and of the Department’s rule for the sanitary production and distribution of food (He-P 2300) read here does not name a shell egg as a potentially hazardous or time and temperature control food, and does not name a farm’s egg stand. He-P 2303.01 also adopts the Food and Drug Administration’s 2017 Food Code for licensed establishments, and the sources read do not say how it applies to an egg stand. The Department’s license does not reach places that a city or town health officer already licenses (RSA 143-A:5, I and II), and a town’s health officers may make regulations for licensing restaurants and other food serving establishments within its limits (RSA 147:1, II). The Department’s homestead page says of its own subject, homestead food, that “There are 15 self-inspecting” cities and towns and a seller in one “must check with them to see if a license is needed.” None of these sources says in words whether a farm that sells only the eggs of its own hens needs a license from the Department of Health and Human Services or from its town, or does not. Ask the Department’s Food Protection section and the town’s health officer.

Source: Department of Agriculture, Markets, and Food, Regulation of Farm Commodities, New Hampshire RSA 428:24-a, Agr 1003, Seal of Quality, Department of Agriculture, Markets, and Food, Farm Product Quality Programs, New Hampshire RSA 143-A:3, New Hampshire RSA 143-A:4, New Hampshire RSA 143-A:5, New Hampshire RSA 147:1, He-P 2300, Sanitary Production and Distribution of Food and Department of Health and Human Services, Homestead Food Operations.

How many eggs can I sell without a license in New Hampshire?

No dozen or hen limit appears in RSA 428:22 through 428:29, in the Agr 905 egg rule or on the Department’s egg page. The exemption in RSA 428:24-a turns on where the eggs are sold, not how many. The only number the sources give is federal: the Department’s page says “Farms with more than 3,000 laying hens are required to register under the USDA’s Egg Products Inspection Act (EPIA),” and the federal egg safety rule covers a shell egg producer with 3,000 or more laying hens at a farm “that does not sell all of your eggs directly to consumers” (21 CFR 118.1). The page says “more than 3,000” and the rule says “3,000 or more.” The page tells a farm with more than 3,000 birds to contact the Department.

Source: New Hampshire RSA 428:24-a, Agr 900, Standards for Farm Products, Department of Agriculture, Markets, and Food, Regulation of Farm Commodities and 21 CFR 118.1.

Can I sell eggs at a farmers market in New Hampshire?

The sources do not name a farmers market in the egg law. The Department’s egg page says only: “If eggs are to be sold at a farmers market or farm stand it is recommended that the product be kept in a cooler packed with ice. An empty carton may be held out for display purposes.” RSA 428:24-a lists a “residence, farm store or stand” and “local stores and/or establishment,” and the sources do not say whether a market stall is a “stand.” The carton label rule (RSA 428:23) applies to every producer in either case.

The food statute’s exemption that reaches “the owner’s own farm stand” and “farmers’ markets” is written for homestead food operations selling food “excluding potentially hazardous food” (RSA 143-A:5, VII). That statute describes such an operation as one that produces its food “only in the home kitchen of that person’s primary residence in New Hampshire or a food production area in the person’s primary residence” (RSA 143-A:12, I(a)), and neither names eggs. Temporary and occasional food service establishments and events not under a town or city health officer are exempt from the Department of Health and Human Services’ licensing (RSA 143-A:5, III), and the sources read do not say whether an egg stall is one. Ask the market’s organizer and the town’s health officer as well as the Department’s Food Protection section.

Source: Department of Agriculture, Markets, and Food, Regulation of Farm Commodities, New Hampshire RSA 428:24-a, New Hampshire RSA 428:23, New Hampshire RSA 143-A:5 and New Hampshire RSA 143-A:12.

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

RSA 428:24-a covers producers who sell “exclusively from their residence, farm store or stand, or to local stores and/or establishment.” It does not name a distributor, egg dealer, wholesaler or retail chain, which the statute names in defining a “commercial egg producer” as “any person who ships and/or sells eggs to a distributor, egg dealer, wholesaler, or retail chain” (RSA 428:22, II). The sources do not define “local” stores or say whether a restaurant is an “establishment.” A producer who also sells outside that list does not sell “exclusively” within it, and the subdivision’s rules would apply to that producer on their words: shell eggs kept at a maximum of 45°F, sized and graded only to the United States Department of Agriculture’s standards if they carry a size or grade, and “No person, processor, packer, distributor/wholesaler, retailer or food service facility shall sell, deliver, donate or use shell eggs or packaging that do not meet the requirements of these regulations” (RSA 428:25, I).

A licensed food establishment’s own rule is that “Food shall be obtained from sources that comply with law,” and then adds that “the exemption under the Poultry Products Inspection Act at 21 USC 464(c)(4) shall not apply in the state of New Hampshire” (He-P 2303.01(b)(1)). The Department of Health and Human Services’ rule calls “Raw agricultural plant commodities and products under the oversight of New Hampshire department of agriculture under RSA 426, RSA 427, RSA 428, RSA 429, and RSA 434 that do not require inspection” an approved source, but that sentence is in the section for food processing plants (He-P 2309.03(b)(2)). The sources read do not say whether a restaurant may buy eggs from a producer under RSA 428:24-a. Ask the Department’s Food Protection section, and confirm with the restaurant’s own health officer.

Source: New Hampshire RSA 428:24-a, New Hampshire RSA 428:22, New Hampshire RSA 428:25 and He-P 2300, Sanitary Production and Distribution of Food.

Do I need to grade or label my eggs in New Hampshire?

Every producer, exempt or not, follows RSA 428:23. “Every producer shall include their business, farm, or personal name, an address or website, and a phone number on any egg carton sold,” and “All egg producers in this state shall follow truth-in-labeling standards” (RSA 428:23, I and II). “If a producer uses reused cartons, producers shall inform customers that the eggs inside are not graded and that the size indicated on the carton does not apply to the eggs being sold” (RSA 428:23, III). A size or a grade is optional, but a carton that carries one must meet the United States Department of Agriculture’s standard, and “Shell eggs that are not sized shall not include markings, labeling, be marketed or placed in packaging that implies size,” with the same rule for grade (RSA 428:23, V and VI). Federal rules put the "Safe Handling Instructions" statement on every carton of shell eggs (21 CFR 101.17(h)). The word “local” on a farm product is deceptive “unless they were grown or produced within the state of New Hampshire” (RSA 426:5, II).

The Department’s pages and rule read differently. Its egg page says “All eggs that are offered for sale shall be labeled with a weight class statement, or with the term ‘Not Sized.’” It says a carton “needs to plainly and conspicuously state the word ‘fresh,’ provided the eggs meet the Grade A standard,” that “the NH Fresh Egg Law does not deal with cartons,” and that “local health jurisdictions may require only new cartons to be used.” The Agr 905 rule, adopted with an April 1, 2026 effective date, has the same size requirement (“shall be plainly and conspicuously marked and identified with the size or weight class,” Agr 905.02) and the same “fresh” limit (Agr 905.03), and it cites RSA 428:22, IV for “eggs” and RSA 428:22, III for candling, where the section as it now stands defines a shell egg at III and a person at IV. The rule and the page read as if written before the August 4, 2026 exemption, and the sources read do not say whether the Department still asks an exempt producer for a size or the word “fresh.” The Seal of Quality asks for more: new, clean cartons, the packer’s name and address, a packing date and product code, a size, and a Grade AA or A (Agr 1003.03). Agr 1003.03(b) still requires compliance with “RSA 428:22-29-a,” and RSA 428:29-a was repealed effective August 4, 2026. Ask the Department which reading it holds a small flock to.

Source: New Hampshire RSA 428:23, 21 CFR 101.17(h), New Hampshire RSA 426:5, Department of Agriculture, Markets, and Food, Regulation of Farm Commodities, Agr 900, Standards for Farm Products, Agr 1003, Seal of Quality and New Hampshire RSA 428:29-a.

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

The statute sets numbers, and then exempts some producers from them. “All shell eggs sold, delivered or donated to consumers, retailers, food service facilities, dealers, or wholesalers shall be held at a maximum ambient temperature of 45°F immediately following packing,” and nest run eggs at 55°F “immediately after collection” (RSA 428:24). RSA 428:24-a says a producer who sells exclusively from a residence, a farm store or stand, or to local stores “shall not be subject to” RSA 428:24.

The Department’s egg page still reads: “Yes. FDA and local health officials require that shell eggs held for retail sale must be refrigerated at a temperature less than 45°F.” 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). The rule defines a retail establishment as “an operation that stores, prepares, packages, serves, vends, or otherwise provides food for human consumption directly to consumers” (21 CFR 115.50(a)), so a stand that sells eggs to a consumer meets that definition on its words, and the 45°F line follows for eggs it holds. The sources read do not say how the Department or the Department of Health and Human Services applies it to a small stand after the 2026 exemption.

Source: New Hampshire RSA 428:24, New Hampshire RSA 428:24-a, Department of Agriculture, Markets, and Food, Regulation of Farm Commodities and 21 CFR 115.50.

Can I sell duck, quail or other eggs in New Hampshire?

The egg subdivision defines a shell egg as a “hens’ egg” (RSA 428:22, III), and the Agr 905 rule says the same. The Department’s egg page adds: “No. The NH Fresh Egg Law and the US standards for quality of individual shell eggs shall be applicable only to eggs of the domesticated chicken that are in the shell.” It names duck and goose eggs in its question and does not name quail. The carton label rule speaks of “egg producers” and “shell eggs,” and the sources read do not say what a seller of duck, quail or goose eggs must mark, license or keep, or how the Department of Health and Human Services treats them. Ask the Department about the species you raise.

Source: New Hampshire RSA 428:22, Agr 900, Standards for Farm Products and Department of Agriculture, Markets, and Food, Regulation of Farm Commodities.

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

The Department’s egg page says of candling: “No, although candling is the most effective way of determining interior quality it is not required.” Of washing it says: “Eggs must be clean. It is recommended that eggs be washed or cleaned,” and gives a protocol, warm running water, a mild detergent approved for washing eggs for extremely dirty eggs, cooling and drying quickly, and “Never let eggs sit in water.” The statute sets no washing method. It bars an “adulterated” egg, one “prepared, packaged or held under unsanitary conditions” (RSA 428:22, I; RSA 428:25, II), and RSA 428:24-a lifts both sections from the producers it names.

The Agr 905 rule limits the words “fresh,” “native,” “hennery,” “nearby,” “new laid” and the like to eggs that meet USDA Grade A or AA “and determined by candling” (Agr 905.03), and prints its own definition of candling, “the common practice of examining the interior of an egg by holding and twirling the same before a bright light passing through an aperture in an opaque shield,” after pointing to RSA 428:22, III, which as it now stands defines a shell egg (Agr 905.04). The sources read do not say how an exempt producer proves a grade without candling, or which of the two texts the Department follows. Ask the Department what a small flock is expected to have.

Source: Department of Agriculture, Markets, and Food, Regulation of Farm Commodities, New Hampshire RSA 428:22, New Hampshire RSA 428:25, New Hampshire RSA 428:24-a and Agr 900, Standards for Farm Products.