This week on Eggheads, we sit down with Mark Kellen, Executive Vice President at Daybreak Foods, to explore the mindset, skillset, and lived experience behind leadership in the egg industry. From his beginnings on a small family farm in Minnesota to overseeing operations across six states, Mark’s journey is rooted in curiosity, adaptability, and an unwavering commitment to his team.

We unpack what it takes to become a well-rounded general manager—from hands-on live bird work to managing budgets, community relations, and customer expectations. Mark shares how Daybreak is building internal pipelines of leadership through tailored development plans and cross-training opportunities, and why communication is the most overlooked (yet essential) ingredient in promoting from within.

The episode also touches on Mark’s firsthand experience navigating avian influenza—from the emotional toll of depopulation to the importance of transparent planning and employee trust. It’s a candid conversation about growth, grit, and what it means to lead during both steady days and storms.

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This week on Eggheads, we sit down with Dr. Maurice Pitesky, veterinary epidemiologist at UC Davis and founder of AgriNerds, to explore how technology—think radar, satellites, and spatial modeling—is reshaping disease prevention in the poultry industry. His tool, the Waterfowl Alert Network, helps producers track wild bird movement in real time, offering a red-light, green-light system for assessing avian influenza risk.

Maurice explains how biosecurity needs to expand beyond the barn, why data sharing is just as important as data collection, and what it’ll take to modernize vet training for the 21st century. From drones that chase birds to historical migration data from the '90s, this episode dives deep into innovation, practicality, and the challenges of protecting flocks in the middle of a historic outbreak.

What does it look like to layer biosecurity, mapping, and epidemiology in a way that actually works? And how can we build systems that help producers act before—not after—a crisis hits?

Are you an egg industry pro? Reach out to be a guest on the show! Connect with us on LinkedIn and Instagram. And please rate Eggheads on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

In this special roundtable edition of Eggheads, we bring back “The Scramble”—our unfiltered format where leading voices in the egg industry sit down to tackle the Avian Influenza chaos head-on. Host Greg Schoenfeld is joined by three experts at the forefront: Dr. Kay Russo, veterinarian and virologist, Brian Moscogiuri, egg market analyst, and Jacques Klempf, former egg producer and industry veteran.

This conversation covers it all: the continued volatility in egg prices, the relentless spread of avian influenza, the economic and emotional toll on farmers, and the controversial but potentially game-changing role of vaccination. Kay breaks down the scientific case for vaccines and what’s holding the U.S. back, Jacques gives a raw look at what it’s like to operate under constant threat, and Brian connects the dots on how market disruptions are impacting supply chains and consumers alike.

We’re in uncharted territory-- farmers are holding onto aging flocks, trying to stretch production. Replacement birds are hard to come by. Meanwhile, policymakers are stuck in neutral as the virus continues to burn. With over 50 million birds lost since October and a fractured industry response, the question becomes: how much longer can the system hold?

If you care about food security, farming, or just want to understand why eggs are so expensive (and nowadays often missing from store shelves), this is the episode to check out.

Please rate Eggheads on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Are you an egg industry pro? Reach out to be a guest on the show! Connect with us on LinkedIn and Instagram.