State rules

Can you sell backyard eggs in New York?

Yes. Selling your own eggs to consumers needs no state egg license and no grade or size label, but the eggs must be Grade B or better and kept at 45°F. A farm stand should ask about a retail food store license.

Read from 13 official sources26 passages quotedChecked October 7, 2026

At a glance

License

Depends how you sell

Small-flock line

No number: own eggs to consumers

Farmers markets

With conditions

Cartons

New only

In plain English

New York has no egg-specific license, registration or flock-size cutoff for a producer selling eggs of their own flock. The state's egg law makes every egg sold for food meet the commissioner's grades, and it carves out one thing for producers: when you sell eggs of your own production to a consumer, you don't have to label or post the grade and size. AGM says these eggs must still be graded and be Grade B or better, and leakers, blood spots and meat spots can't be sold. In New York law a 'consumer' includes restaurants, hotels and bakeries buying for their own cooking, not just households. All eggs must be kept at 45°F or below after packing, in transit and at retail. At farmers' markets AGM wants eggs visibly clean, in labeled cartons treated as one-time-use packaging. AGM's jurisdiction guide says no license is required for raw farm products like eggs, but the Article 28 retail food store license excludes only roadside markets that sell nothing but fresh fruits and vegetables, so a farm stand that sells eggs should confirm with AGM. Federal law requires producers with more than 3,000 hens to register.

A sourced reading of New York's rules, not legal advice. Rules change; confirm with New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets (AGM) ((518) 457-2090) before you sell.

Do you need a license?

Depends on how and how much you sellNo number: own eggs to consumers
  • The grade and size labeling exemption covers only eggs of your own production sold to a consumer.N.Y. Agric. & Mkts. Law § 160-c; 1 NYCRR 191.3
  • A consumer means a person buying for family use, or a restaurant, hotel, boarding house, bakery or other institution buying to serve or cook.N.Y. Agric. & Mkts. Law § 160-a
  • The eggs must still be graded and be of Grade B or better quality.AGM Shell Eggs; N.Y. Agric. & Mkts. Law § 160-a
  • Leakers, blood spots, meat spots and other loss may not be sold for human consumption.AGM Shell Eggs; 1 NYCRR 191.1
  • Refrigerate and hold eggs at 45°F or below immediately after packing, during transportation and at retail.AGM Shell Eggs
  • Don't call eggs 'fresh' unless they meet at least Grade A; no false or misleading statements on the package or label.1 NYCRR 191.8; N.Y. Agric. & Mkts. Law § 160-d
  • Farmers' markets: eggs visibly clean and packaged in properly labeled cartons, cartons treated as one-time-use, stored at an ambient 45°F or less.AGM Farmers' Market Guidance 2020
  • Producers with more than 3,000 hens must register under the federal Egg Products Inspection Act.AGM Shell Eggs
The exact wording
“A producer selling eggs of his own production directly to consumers is exempt from Grade and Size labeling requirements. These eggs must, however, be graded and be of Grade B or better quality.”

Where you can sell

From home or the farm

With conditions

No egg license; your own eggs sold to consumers need no grade or size label but must be Grade B or better and kept at 45°F. AGM says raw farm products need no license, but the Article 28 retail food store definition excludes only roadside markets selling nothing but fresh fruits and vegetables, so a farm stand that also sells eggs should confirm with AGM whether it needs the $250 two-year license.

Farmers markets

With conditions

AGM regulates farmers' market vendors selling eggs. Its 2020 vendor guidance asks for visibly clean eggs in properly labeled cartons (name and address of the packer, grade, size, contents, a keep-refrigerated-at-45°F statement and the safe handling statement), cartons treated as one-time-use packaging, and storage at 45°F or less. Vendors must show their food license or permit on request; no license for raw farm products like eggs was found.

Stores and restaurants

With conditions

Restaurants, hotels and bakeries count as consumers under the egg law, so the own-production exemption from grade and size labels reaches them. A store buying to resell is not a consumer: it must post or label the grade and size when it resells (1 NYCRR 191.3), and eggs must be sold by grade (§ 160-a). The producer is not required to send an invoice (§ 160-e; 1 NYCRR 191.4). No producer license for these sales was found.

Also check with: NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets, Division of Food Safety and Inspection (retail food store license for a farm stand)

Cartons, labels and handling

Cartons

New cartons are required for eggs you sell.

“Egg cartons should be considered one-time-use packaging.”

Refrigeration

45°F or colder where the rule applies.

“All eggs must be refrigerated and held at 45ºF or below immediately after packing, during transportation and at retail.”

The label must show

  • "EGGS" and count
  • Name and address (or packer identification number)
  • "KEEP REFRIGERATED" or similar
  • Safe handling statement
  • Grade and size (not required on your own eggs sold directly to consumers)

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

Grading

Eggs must be graded.

Eggs for human consumption may be sold only by the commissioner's grades (N.Y. Agric. & Mkts. Law § 160-a). A producer selling their own eggs to consumers is excused only from labeling the grade and size; AGM says the eggs must still be graded and be Grade B or better.

Washing

No washing method is set for small producers. AGM's farmers' market guidance says eggs should be visibly cleaned, free of filth, dirt and fecal matter; Grade A and B standards require a clean shell (1 NYCRR Part 190).

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

Common questions

Do I need a license to sell eggs from my backyard chickens in New York?
Yes. Selling your own eggs to consumers needs no state egg license and no grade or size label, but the eggs must be Grade B or better and kept at 45°F. A farm stand should ask about a retail food store license. Small-flock line: no number: own eggs to consumers. The conditions, and the law they come from, are on this page.
Can I sell eggs at a farmers market in New York?
Allowed with conditions. AGM regulates farmers' market vendors selling eggs. Its 2020 vendor guidance asks for visibly clean eggs in properly labeled cartons (name and address of the packer, grade, size, contents, a keep-refrigerated-at-45°F statement and the safe handling statement), cartons treated as one-time-use packaging, and storage at 45°F or less. Vendors must show their food license or permit on request; no license for raw farm products like eggs was found. Also check with NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets, Division of Food Safety and Inspection (retail food store license for a farm stand).
Can I reuse egg cartons in New York?
No: New York requires new cartons for eggs you sell. The rule reads: "Egg cartons should be considered one-time-use packaging."
What has to be on the carton label in New York?
"EGGS" and count, Name and address (or packer identification number), "KEEP REFRIGERATED" or similar, Safe handling statement, Grade and size (not required on your own eggs sold directly to consumers). The rule reads: "ALL eggs must be IDENTIFIED AS TO SOURCE. They must bear an appropriate packer identification number, or if labeled “Packed By”, full name and address is acceptable. … The words “KEEP REFRIGERATED” or similar designation. … The statement “To prevent illness from bacteria: keep eggs refrigerated, cook eggs until yolks are firm, and cook foods containing eggs thoroughly”" The federal safe handling statement applies as well; our carton label maker prints all of it.
Do eggs I sell in New York have to be refrigerated?
Yes, at 45°F or colder. The rule reads: "All eggs must be refrigerated and held at 45ºF or below immediately after packing, during transportation and at retail."
Sources
Read the 26 passages this page is built on
What we couldn't confirm
  • Article 28 question: AGM's jurisdiction guide (rev. 3/2025) says 'No license is required for raw agricultural/ farm products' and lists raw farm products (eggs), but Agric. & Mkts. Law § 500-a defines a retail food store as any establishment offering food to consumers for off-premises consumption and excludes only 'roadside markets that offer only fresh fruits and fresh vegetables'. Several farm stands appear as licensed retail food stores. Whether a farm stand that sells eggs needs the $250 Article 28 license was not confirmed; licenseRequired is 'depends' for that reason.
  • Labels conflict: AGM's Shell Eggs sheet exempts own-production eggs sold directly to consumers from grade and size labeling (matching § 160-c and 1 NYCRR 191.3), while AGM's 2020 farmers' market guidance lists grade and size among required carton labels without that exemption.
  • Cartons: the one-time-use statement is guidance wording ('should be considered'); no statute or rule barring carton reuse was found.
  • Blocked sites: nysenate.gov, agriculture.ny.gov and govt.westlaw.com (NYCRR) return Cloudflare challenges (HTTP 403) to curl. Statute and NYCRR text was read in the browser pane (quotes in new-york.blocked.json). The three AGM PDFs were downloaded through WebFetch's saved binary and converted with pdftotext.
  • Currency: OpenLegislation shows Article 13-A (§§ 160-a to 160-e) at its 2014-09-22 revision with no later change; NYCRR Parts 190 and 191 on Westlaw are 'Current through September 15, 2022' (Part 261: October 31, 2024), so 2023-2026 rule changes could be missing. A cage-free bill (S950/A652, 2025, adding § 160-f) was introduced and referred to committee; no passage found. No 2024-2026 enacted egg law change was found.
  • The 45°F rule is stated by AGM; its legal basis (federal 21 CFR 118 adopted by 1 NYCRR 261.1 for larger farms, or § 214-f rules) was not traced for small producers.
  • AGM's Shell Eggs PDF carries a '01/17' footer; the file was re-posted in May 2026 without visible changes to the date line.

Selling across the state line?

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

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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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Legal in your state? Then keep the books.

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