Sometimes people have this idea that farmers shouldn't use immigrant workers at all, and that there are enough people looking for work domestically to staff their operations. Today, we're getting into why that's often just simply not the case.

Kyle Farmer is the founder of Farmer Law PC where he's an attorney who specializes in immigration law. He works with producers, and operators throughout the agricultural industry to help them navigate the complexities of the legal system, and find solutions for their labor needs.

Today, Kyle walks us through why access to foreign labor is often a necessity for farmers, delves into the ins and outs of different immigration programs, and explains how politics play into all of this.

The last few decades have seen an incredible amount of change in the egg industry. That's especially true of egg grading, where we've gone from machines that can process 200 cases per hour, to systems that can do 800. And where advances in vision automation mean we no longer need people on the line manually inspecting eggs for dirt or cracks.

Craig England was formerly the President of Sanovo Technology USA and also served as the President of MOBA USA, two of the world's foremost egg processing technology companies. Today, he walks us through the timeline of how automation transformed the breaking and grading process, and the profound impact that had on the broader industry.

In four generations, the Braswell family has gone from selling animal feed to local farmers, to becoming one of the largest suppliers of organic feed and specialty eggs on the east coast. And now, Trey Braswell, the president and CEO of Braswell Family Farms, is focused on continuing that incredible legacy.

Trey joins us today to walk us through the history of the company, to take us inside their long-standing partnership with Eggland's Best, and explain how his unique approach to team building and leadership has made Braswell resilient to whatever challenges may come.

The Weaver family has been in the specialty egg game for a long time, and they've seen incredible success with their brand, Westfield Egg Farm. A big reason for that success has been their continued willingness to innovate, including a unique model that holds their contract farmers to extremely high standards, but also gives them the autonomy to run their operations as they see fit.

Our guest today is George Weaver IV — G4 for short — and he's in charge of sales and marketing at Westfield. G4 gives us a glimpse into the relationship between retailers and specialty egg producers, the ways Westfield tries to differentiate themselves on the aisle, and the importance of supporting small family farms as the industry continues to consolidate.

What a year it's been for Eggheads. We've featured so many new voices and interesting perspectives from throughout the egg world, and gained a whole bunch of new listeners along the way.

Today, Greg shares his thoughts on all of the people and issues we've highlighted in 2025, and what you can expect from the show as we move into 2026.

Happy New Year!

Coke Anderson has had one of the most storied careers of anyone in the egg business. She started with a 30,000-bird flock, which would eventually grow into M&C Anderson pullets, a 1700-acre farm that rears nearly 5 million pullets annually. She would also become the first woman to lead the American Egg Board, and helped the organization navigate through some turbulent times.

Today, Coke joins us in person for the inaugural interview in our new Eggheads studio. We get into her incredible story, her unique approach to leadership, and her thoughts on some of the biggest issues facing egg producers today. We also get into what makes her feel nervous and hopeful for the future of the industry.

Today, we're returning to our special scramble format and welcoming to the show three legends of the egg industry. We have Mark Kleinsmith, formerly the National Sales and Marketing Manager for Lubing USA, Steve Kuykendall, formerly a Regional Manager for Lubing USA, and Craig England, who spent decades working on the breaker and grader side of the industry.

These three old friends have a combined 125 years of industry experience, and they join us to reflect on how the industry has changed over the course of their careers, and to share stories from back in the days when things were a little less corporate, and a bit more rough and tumble.

'In-ovo' sexing, or determining the sex of an egg before it hatches, has long been seen as a potential solution to the problem of male chick culling at hatcheries. Methods of in-ovo sexing have historically been invasive and difficult to apply at scale, but today we're spotlighting a company with some revolutionary tech that could change that.

Jennifer Volz is the Head of Global Business Development at Orbem, a Germany-based company using MRI technology and AI algorithms to make mass in-ovo sexing achievable for only a few cents per egg. Orbem's tech is already in use at several hatcheries in Europe, and Greg caught up with Jennifer at their Houston office, where they're quarterbacking the company's expansion into the US.

Jennifer delves into the scale of the male chick culling issue, how Orbem's tech aims to solve it, and why their success could have implications that extend far beyond the egg industry.