State rules

Can you sell backyard eggs in Nebraska?

Yes, after you get a free egg number from the Nebraska Department of Agriculture (flocks under 3,000 hens). Selling only your own eggs needs no food permit; eggs must be clean, candled, labeled and kept at 45°F.

Read from 10 official sources24 passages quotedChecked October 7, 2026

At a glance

License

Registration

Small-flock line

Under 3,000 hens: NDA egg number

Farmers markets

With conditions

Cartons

Not stated

In plain English

Nebraska repealed its old Graded Egg Act in 2017 and now regulates eggs under the Nebraska Pure Food Act. There is no exemption from the basic rule: anyone who sells or barters eggs must label them with a packer identification number. USDA issues those only to flocks of 3,000 hens or more, so the Nebraska Department of Agriculture gives a free 'Egg Number' to smaller flocks; call NDA to get one. A producer who sells only its own eggs (or eggs from no more than four producers) does not need a food establishment permit or pay permit fees. NDA's farmers' market guidance says eggs must come from your own flock, be clean, candled for quality and held at 45°F or below, and be labeled with your name, address, the Nebraska egg code number and safe handling instructions. Stores and restaurants follow the Food Code, which requires eggs received clean and sound and no worse than U.S. Consumer Grade B tolerances. Eggs are not a cottage food in Nebraska.

A sourced reading of Nebraska's rules, not legal advice. Rules change; confirm with Nebraska Department of Agriculture (NDA) (402-471-3422) before you sell.

Do you need a license?

Registration requiredUnder 3,000 hens: NDA egg number
  • Get a free Egg Number from the Nebraska Department of Agriculture before selling (flocks under 3,000 hens; larger flocks get a USDA number) and label every carton with it.Neb. Rev. Stat. 81-2,270.01; NDA Egg Number sheet
  • No food establishment permit or fee if you sell only the eggs you produce, or eggs from no more than four producers.Neb. Rev. Stat. 81-2,270(8)
  • Follow NDA's rules for eggs sold for pay.Neb. Rev. Stat. 81-2,270.01
  • Eggs from your own flock, clean and candled for quality.NDA Food Safety for Farmers Markets, October 2024
  • Hold eggs at 45°F or below.NDA Food Safety for Farmers Markets, October 2024
  • Label with your name and address, the Nebraska egg code number and safe handling instructions.NDA Food Safety for Farmers Markets, October 2024
  • Eggs sold to food establishments must be clean and sound and within U.S. Consumer Grade B tolerances, with the quantity and the packer's name and place of business on the label.Food Code 3-202.13, 3-602.11, as printed in NDA's Egg Number sheet
The exact wording
“NOTE: USDA does not issue a number if there are less than … 3000 hens. The Nebraska Department of Agriculture (NDA) … issues an “Egg Number” for flocks under 3000 hens.”

Where you can sell

From home or the farm

With conditions

No permit to sell your own eggs (Neb. Rev. Stat. 81-2,270(8)), but the egg number label applies to anyone who sells or barters eggs (81-2,270.01), with no on-farm exception in the statute. Keep eggs clean, candled and at 45°F.

Farmers markets

With conditions

NDA's farmers' market sheet (October 2024) lists eggs as needing an egg number, eggs from your own flock that are clean, candled for quality and kept at 45°F or below, and a label with your name, address, egg code number and safe handling instructions.

Stores and restaurants

With conditions

The permit exemption covers selling your own eggs to anyone, so no separate license was found for selling to stores or restaurants. The buyer's Food Code requires eggs received clean and sound and within U.S. Consumer Grade B tolerances, labeled with quantity and the packer's name and place of business plus your egg number, and refrigerated eggs.

Also check with: Your local health department or market manager (local farmers' market rules)

Cartons, labels and handling

Cartons

The sources we read don't set a carton rule.

Refrigeration

45°F or colder where the rule applies.

“From own flock, must be clean, candled for quality, kept at 45° F or below”

The label must show

  • Nebraska egg code (Egg Number) from NDA
  • Your name and address
  • Safe handling instructions
  • Quantity (Food Code labeling for packaged food)

The carton label maker prints these lines with the federal safe handling statement.

Grading

Ungraded sales are allowed only in some cases.

“candled for quality … Eggs shall be received clean and sound and may not … exceed the restricted egg tolerances for U.S. Consumer … Grade B”

Washing

No Nebraska washing method for small producers was found; NDA asks only that eggs be clean (Food Safety for Farmers Markets, October 2024).

Federal rules apply on top of Nebraska's: the four federal egg rules. Pricing your dozen? The egg price calculator works it out from your feed bill.

What changed recently

  1. 2025-04-29 · LB245, approved April 29, 2025 with an emergency clause (in effect on approval), moved Nebraska to the 2022 FDA Food Code and outright repealed § 81-2,272.01, the separate statute holding the 45°F storage rule for eggs that NDA's Egg Number sheet still quotes. It also amended § 81-2,270, which keeps the permit exemption for producers selling their own eggs. Source

Common questions

Do I need a license to sell eggs from my backyard chickens in Nebraska?
Yes, after you get a free egg number from the Nebraska Department of Agriculture (flocks under 3,000 hens). Selling only your own eggs needs no food permit; eggs must be clean, candled, labeled and kept at 45°F. Small-flock line: under 3,000 hens: nda egg number. The conditions, and the law they come from, are on this page.
Can I sell eggs at a farmers market in Nebraska?
Allowed with conditions. NDA's farmers' market sheet (October 2024) lists eggs as needing an egg number, eggs from your own flock that are clean, candled for quality and kept at 45°F or below, and a label with your name, address, egg code number and safe handling instructions. Also check with your local health department or market manager (local farmers' market rules).
Can I reuse egg cartons in Nebraska?
The sources we read do not say; ask the state agriculture department before reusing cartons for eggs you sell.
What has to be on the carton label in Nebraska?
Nebraska egg code (Egg Number) from NDA, Your name and address, Safe handling instructions, Quantity (Food Code labeling for packaged food). The rule reads: "Labeled with the owner’s name, address and the Nebraska Egg Code Number. … Label with safe handling instructions." The federal safe handling statement applies as well; our carton label maker prints all of it.
Do eggs I sell in Nebraska have to be refrigerated?
Yes, at 45°F or colder. The rule reads: "From own flock, must be clean, candled for quality, kept at 45° F or below"
Sources
Read the 24 passages this page is built on
  • “Any person who for remuneration packs and sells, offers for sale, barters, or otherwise provides eggs for human consumption … shall establish the source of the eggs by labeling the eggs with a packer identification number assigned by the department or the United States Department of Agriculture.”

    Neb. Rev. Stat. § 81-2,270.01 · read 2026-10-07

  • “shall comply with all applicable requirements set forth in rules and regulations adopted and promulgated by the department”

    Neb. Rev. Stat. § 81-2,270.01 · read 2026-10-07

  • “Laws 2017, LB134, § 8.”

    Neb. Rev. Stat. § 81-2,270.01 · read 2026-10-07

  • “No person shall operate without a valid permit: (a) A food establishment conducting those food handling activities authorized by such permit”

    Neb. Rev. Stat. § 81-2,270(1), (8) · read 2026-10-07

  • “A food establishment which produces eggs and only stores, packages, sells, delivers, or otherwise provides for human consumption the eggs it produces, or only stores, packages, sells, delivers, or otherwise provides for human consumption eggs produced from no more than four producers at the same time, is exempt from the requirements of subsections (1) through (6) of this section.”

    Neb. Rev. Stat. § 81-2,270(1), (8) · read 2026-10-07

  • “Laws 2024, LB262, § 38; Laws 2025, LB245, § 8.”

    Neb. Rev. Stat. § 81-2,270(1), (8) · read 2026-10-07

  • “Food establishment shall mean an operation that stores, prepares, packages, serves, sells, vends, or otherwise provides food for human consumption.”

    nebraskalegislature.gov · read 2026-10-07

  • “The department may adopt and promulgate rules and regulations to provide for source labeling on eggs which are packaged. The department may establish standards, grades, and weight classes for eggs.”

    Neb. Rev. Stat. § 81-2,288(2) · read 2026-10-07

  • “Food Code shall mean the 2022 Recommendations of the United States Public Health Service, Food and Drug Administration”

    Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 81-2,244.01, 81-2,245.01 · read 2026-10-07

  • “View Statute 2-3501 Repealed. Laws 2017, LB134 , § 15.”

    Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 2-3501 to 2-3525 (repealed) · read 2026-10-07

  • “The sale of eggs does not fall under cottage food. However, they can still be sold exactly as they have been sold. If you want to sell eggs you have produced and have less than 3,000 hens, contact the Nebraska Department of Ag and ask for an egg number. It’s free”

    Nebraska Department of Agriculture (NDA) · read 2026-10-07

  • “NOTE: USDA does not issue a number if there are less than … 3000 hens. The Nebraska Department of Agriculture (NDA) … issues an “Egg Number” for flocks under 3000 hens.”

    Nebraska Department of Agriculture (NDA) · read 2026-10-07

  • “NOTE: this includes the “Egg Number” from NDA. To obtain … an egg code number with the Nebraska Department of … Agriculture, please call 402-471-3422.”

    Nebraska Department of Agriculture (NDA) · read 2026-10-07

  • “Eggs shall be received clean and sound and may not … exceed the restricted egg tolerances for U.S. Consumer … Grade B as specified in United States Standards, Grades,”

    Nebraska Department of Agriculture (NDA) · read 2026-10-07

  • “(3) An accurate declaration of the quantity of contents; … (4) The name and place of business of the manufacturer, … packer, or distributor; and”

    Nebraska Department of Agriculture (NDA) · read 2026-10-07

  • “(2) Eggs that have not been treated to destroy all viable … Salmonellae shall be stored in refrigerated equipment that … maintains an ambient air temperature of forty-five degrees … Fahrenheit (seven degrees Celsius) or less.”

    Nebraska Department of Agriculture (NDA) · read 2026-10-07

  • “SAFE HANDLING INSTRUCTIONS: To prevent illness from bacteria: keep eggs refrigerated, cook eggs until yolks are firm, and cook foods containing eggs thoroughly.”

    Nebraska Department of Agriculture (NDA) · read 2026-10-07

  • “December 2019”

    Nebraska Department of Agriculture (NDA) · read 2026-10-07

  • “Egg number required – Register with Nebraska Department of Agriculture: 402-471-3422 … From own flock, must be clean, candled for quality, kept at 45° F or below … Labeled with the owner’s name, address and the Nebraska Egg Code Number. … Label with safe handling instructions.”

    Nebraska Department of Agriculture (NDA) · read 2026-10-07

  • “No person shall sell food without authorization from NDA.”

    Nebraska Department of Agriculture (NDA) · read 2026-10-07

  • “October 2024 | 1”

    Nebraska Department of Agriculture (NDA) · read 2026-10-07

  • “Approved by the Governor April 29, 2025”

    nebraskalegislature.gov · read 2026-10-07

  • “Sec. 17. The following sections are outright repealed: Sections … 81-2,272.01, 81-2,272.10, 81-2,272.24, and 81-2,272.32”

    nebraskalegislature.gov · read 2026-10-07

  • “Sec. 18. Since an emergency exists, this act takes effect when passed and … approved according to law.”

    nebraskalegislature.gov · read 2026-10-07

What we couldn't confirm
  • The lead 'Neb. Rev. Stat. 2-3501+ (Nebraska Egg Law)' is outdated: §§ 2-3501 to 2-3525 (Graded Egg Act) were repealed by LB134 (2017); egg rules now sit in the Nebraska Pure Food Act (§§ 81-2,239 to 81-2,292), mainly § 81-2,270.01 and § 81-2,270(8).
  • NDA's Egg Number sheet (December 2019, still the 'Selling Eggs in Nebraska' link) quotes § 81-2,272.01 for 45°F storage; LB245 repealed that section on April 29, 2025. The 45°F figure now appears to come from the 2022 FDA Food Code (3-501.16(C)) adopted by § 81-2,244.01, and NDA's October 2024 farmers' market sheet still says 45°F. The FDA text was not quoted (not a state host).
  • No NDA rules under § 81-2,288(2) for egg source labeling, standards or grades were found in the Nebraska Administrative Code; NDA's regulations page lists only the Food Code and the Pure Food Act for foods.
  • Retail and restaurant sales: no Nebraska source says in so many words that a small producer may sell to stores or restaurants; this record reads the § 81-2,270(8) exemption (own eggs, any buyer) together with the Food Code receiving rule NDA prints in its Egg Number sheet. Graded and sized labels are not required by any current Nebraska source found; a Nebraska Department of Education fact sheet (2020) asks school buyers for grade and size labels (not quoted).
  • Cartons: no Nebraska rule or NDA statement on new versus reused cartons was found.
  • Whether the egg number requirement applies to sales at the farm (statute: anyone who sells or barters eggs) is not separately addressed by NDA; the record treats it as applying to all sales.
  • 2026 session: no egg bill found by web search; the Legislature's bill search was not scripted. Statute pages list amendments through Laws 2025.
  • Local health departments that inspect food under NDA contract (e.g., Lincoln-Lancaster, Douglas County) were not researched.

Selling across the state line?

The rules change at the border. Here's where Nebraska's neighbors draw the line.

ALAKAZARCACOCTDEFLGAHIIDILINIAKSKYLAMEMDMAMIMNMSMOMTNENVNHNJNMNYNCNDOHOKORPARISCSDTNTXUTVTVAWAWVWIWY
No license for small salesDepends how you sellRegistration or licenseNot stated or rechecking

Every state, one map

Colored by the small-flock license rule. Tap a state to read it, or compare them all side by side.

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