Can I sell eggs in North Dakota?

Do I need a license to sell eggs in North Dakota?

Not an egg dealer license, if you sell to the end consumer. The statute: “All eggs sold or offered for sale to an end consumer are exempt from this requirement,” the requirement being that eggs sold “other than to an end consumer in this state must be candled, labeled, and meet all other requirements as the commissioner deems necessary” (N.D.C.C. 4.1-19-06(1)). The Department’s sheet says: “Egg Dealer’s License: For small flock producers for the sale of eggs at wholesale or other commercial use. Note: eggs sold to end consumer are exempt from egg dealer’s licensing and requirements.” The license is $10 a year, renewed each June 1, after an initial inspection and annual inspections.

The license no longer has a statute of its own. The section on licensing, bonding and fees was repealed in 2025 (“Repealed by S.L. 2025, ch. 81, § 3”), and the license now rests on the Department’s rule: “Every person who wants access to commercial egg markets, engaged in the business of producing eggs shall first apply to and obtain from the department of agriculture an egg dealer’s license” (N.D.A.C. 7-11-01-02). The statute’s section heading still reads “Egg dealers to be registered,” and the rule calls the farm flock egg handling requirements “a voluntary program” (7-11-01-03(1)). What the license is voluntary for, and what an end-consumer seller must still meet, is not said. Ask the Department.

A health license is a separate question, and the sources are silent. A “food establishment” is a place “in which food or drink is prepared for sale or service to the public” and must be licensed by the Department of Health and Human Services (N.D.C.C. 23-09-01, 23-09-16), and its license type sheet counts holding and displaying commercially processed, prepackaged “in-shell eggs” among a retail food store’s work. No source read says whether a farm’s own egg stand is either one, and nothing calls it required or optional. The cottage food chapter lets a home operator sell “baked goods, jams, jellies, and other food and drink products” to an informed end consumer with no license (23-09.5-01, 23-09.5-02), and names no egg. A 2019 proposed rule said “A cottage food operator may sell uninspected raw poultry or shell eggs as authorized by chapter 23-09.5,” but that rule section was repealed effective October 1, 2021, so this page does not rely on it. Ask Health and Human Services Food and Lodging.

Source: N.D.C.C. ch. 4.1-19, N.D.A.C. ch. 7-11-01, NDDA, Quick Reference for Egg Dealer Requirements, N.D.C.C. ch. 23-09, N.D.C.C. ch. 23-09.5, HHS, Food and Lodging License Type Descriptions, N.D.A.C. ch. 33-33-10 and Department of Health, 2019 proposed rule changes.

How many eggs can I sell without a license in North Dakota?

None is in the statute or the Department’s pages read. The exemption in 4.1-19-06(1) has no hen or dozen line. The Department’s rule defines a “small commercial flock” as “a flock of up to three thousand laying hens” (7-11-01-01(7)), and the rules read use the term nowhere else, so 3,000 is not a sales limit that any source states. What the Department does for a larger flock is unread. The federal line is separate: a shell egg producer with “3,000 or more laying hens at a particular farm that does not sell all of your eggs directly to consumers” (21 CFR 118.1).

The line that does appear is the buyer: eggs sold “other than to an end consumer” carry the candling and labeling requirement, and the Department’s sheet puts the sale “at wholesale or other commercial use” under the license. A violation of the chapter or a rule under it “may be subject to a civil penalty not to exceed one thousand dollars for each violation” (4.1-19-05).

Source: N.D.C.C. ch. 4.1-19, N.D.A.C. ch. 7-11-01, NDDA, Quick Reference for Egg Dealer Requirements and 21 CFR 118.1.

Can I sell eggs at a farmers market in North Dakota?

The egg statute names no venue. A sale to a consumer at a market is a sale to an end consumer on its face, and the Department’s sheet says nothing about markets. Whether a market counts as “access to commercial egg markets” for the license (7-11-01-02) is not said. Ask the Department.

The health side is silent on eggs. The cottage food chapter defines a farmers market as “a market or group of booths where farmers and other cottage food operators sell cottage food products directly to consumers” (23-09.5-01(4)), and whether a shell egg is a cottage food product is unread. A temporary food service establishment is a stand that operates at a fixed location for not more than fourteen consecutive days, and whether an egg stall is one is not said. NDSU Extension says of markets and other channels that “producers are encouraged to work with their local health unit and/or buyer on any requirements.” Eight local public health units license food establishments in their areas under agreements with the department (see the areas page). Ask the local health unit or Health and Human Services Food and Lodging.

Selling by online request and pickup is not addressed in any source read. See the listing question under cartons.

Source: N.D.C.C. ch. 4.1-19, NDDA, Quick Reference for Egg Dealer Requirements, N.D.C.C. ch. 23-09.5, HHS, Food and Lodging License Type Descriptions, NDSU Extension, Guide for Buying and Selling Local Food and HHS, Areas of Licensing Jurisdiction.

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

It depends on whether the buyer is an end consumer, which the sources do not settle (below). If the buyer is not one, the statute attaches requirements: eggs sold “other than to an end consumer” must be candled, labeled and meet “all other requirements as the commissioner deems necessary” (4.1-19-06(1)). The Department’s sheet says the egg dealer license is for eggs sold at wholesale or for other commercial use, at $10 a year, and the rule adds that “Farms selling eggs to retailers or other business establishments need an annual water sample, if supplied by well water,” with the results sent to the commissioner (7-11-01-07(1)).

Who is an “end consumer” is not defined in the egg chapter. The cottage food chapter defines an “informed end consumer” as the last individual to purchase, and says cottage food “may not be sold or used in any food establishment, food processing plant, or food store” (23-09.5-01(6), 23-09.5-02(4)). Whether a restaurant, a store or an institution is an end consumer for the egg statute is not said.

The buyer’s side is unread. The State adopts the FDA 2017 Model Food Code by reference (N.D.A.C. 33-33-04.1-01), and this page does not read the code’s text on eggs or approved sources. Ask the Department of Agriculture and Health and Human Services.

Source: N.D.C.C. ch. 4.1-19, N.D.A.C. ch. 7-11-01, NDDA, Quick Reference for Egg Dealer Requirements, N.D.C.C. ch. 23-09.5 and N.D.A.C. ch. 33-33-04.1.

Do I need to grade or label my eggs in North Dakota?

The producer’s name and address, a pack date, and the federal safe handling statement. The Department’s rule: “Farm flock eggs offered for sale must be identified with the producer’s name and address. Either blank cartons can be used or a carton with the individual farm name can be made up,” and “All cartons must display a code indicating the date the eggs were packed,” with any “use before” or “best before” date no more than forty-five days from the pack date (7-11-01-03(3), (4)). The Department’s sheet says the same and adds “Packed dates are required.” Federal rules put the "Safe Handling Instructions" statement on every carton of shell eggs (21 CFR 101.17(h)), and the rule and the sheet print it.

Whether an end-consumer seller must do this is where the sources part. The statute exempts sales to an end consumer from the requirement that eggs be “candled, labeled, and meet all other requirements” (4.1-19-06(1)); the rule’s carton lines say “must” for eggs “offered for sale” and its first line calls the farm flock requirements “a voluntary program.” Ask the Department.

Reusing cartons: the rule says “Any carton or flat that is reused must be made of washable material and shall be sanitized before being reused” (7-11-01-05), and the sheet says “Reuse only allowed if washed and sanitized (made of durable materials)” and “reusing other’s cartons not acceptable.” Whether a paper carton from a store may be reused is not settled by the two. Ask the Department.

A grade or size on the carton: the rule sets tolerances for consumer Grades AA, A and B (7-11-01-08) and defines “washed eggs” as those “washed and candled but are not graded to size” (7-11-01-01(8)). No source read says a farm’s carton must show a grade or size, or excuses one.

A listing that shows a price per dozen, on this site or elsewhere, is not addressed: no source read says whether an online listing or price is an “offer for sale” that carries more than the end-consumer exemption covers. Ask the Department.

Source: N.D.A.C. ch. 7-11-01, NDDA, Quick Reference for Egg Dealer Requirements, N.D.C.C. ch. 4.1-19 and 21 CFR 101.17(h).

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

The Department’s rule says 45°F or below: “All eggs held or offered for sale must be stored in refrigerated compartments. The temperature cannot exceed forty-five degrees Fahrenheit [7.22 degrees Celsius]. This also includes temporary storage” (7-11-01-03(2)). Eggs stored before sale go in a place “capable of maintaining a temperature of between thirty-three and forty-five degrees Fahrenheit,” away from objectionable odors, and moved to the point of sale “in a covered container” (7-11-01-05). The sheet adds a thermometer in coolers and fridges and says to keep eggs under 45°F “during temporary storage and transportation.”

Whether an end-consumer seller is held to this is the same open point as under cartons: the rule says “all eggs,” the statute excuses end-consumer sales from the requirements, and the rule calls the program voluntary. Ask the Department.

Source: N.D.A.C. ch. 7-11-01, NDDA, Quick Reference for Egg Dealer Requirements and N.D.C.C. ch. 4.1-19.

Can I sell duck, quail or other eggs in North Dakota?

The egg statute covers them. “Eggs” means “eggs in the shell which are the product of a domesticated poultry,” and “poultry” includes “chickens, turkeys, ostriches, emus, rheas, cassowaries, waterfowl, and game birds, but excluding doves and pigeons” (4.1-19-01). The rules read speak of “hens” and carry grade tolerances written for chicken eggs, and no source says how they apply to duck or quail eggs.

Keeping some birds takes a permit. The Department’s sheet says: “All Non-Traditional Poultry, such as pheasants, quail and chukar, require a permit to Possess, Propagate, or Domesticate (PPD). Contact ND Board of Animal Health for information.” The Board’s own rule and permit page are unread, so what the permit covers, and whether it reaches a seller of the eggs, is not said. Ask the Board of Animal Health.

Source: N.D.C.C. ch. 4.1-19, N.D.A.C. ch. 7-11-01 and NDDA, Quick Reference for Egg Dealer Requirements.

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

The rule says yes, and the statute says an end-consumer sale is excused. The rule: “All eggs being offered for sale must be candled. … Hand candling is permissible” (7-11-01-04), and eggs “must be washed manually or with the aid of automatic cleaning equipment,” then treated with a sanitizing solution of no less than 50 and no more than 200 parts per million of available chlorine, or another sanitizer registered with the federal Environmental Protection Agency and labeled for use on shell eggs (7-11-01-06). The sheet asks for 87 percent of eggs free of checks and defects and a candling light on hand, with training from the Department’s dairy inspector.

The statute: the requirement that eggs be “candled, labeled, and meet all other requirements” does not apply to eggs sold to an end consumer (4.1-19-06(1)). Which one binds a farm selling only to households is not said. Ask the Department.

Source: N.D.A.C. ch. 7-11-01, NDDA, Quick Reference for Egg Dealer Requirements and N.D.C.C. ch. 4.1-19.