DeCoster farm role prompts scrutiny Farmer invested in Ohio egg producer

COLUMBUS, Ohio – An egg farmer with a history of environmental violations in Iowa knew Ohio agriculture officials wouldn’t let him buy the largest egg farm in their state, so he didn’t try, his son said.

Instead, Austin “Jack” DeCoster opted to invest $110 million in Ohio Fresh Eggs, which has been fined for problems controlling rodents and insects. Now that state regulators have found out about the Iowa farmer’s involvement, they accuse the company of hiding his management role and are trying to revoke the company’s permits, forcing the business to close.

DeCoster’s son, Peter, said his father is not involved in any day-to-day decisions with Ohio Fresh Eggs’ 12 farms, which have millions of hens in Licking, Hardin and Wyandot counties.

Peter DeCoster said his father put up the money last year to help the owners of Ohio Fresh Eggs – Donald Hershey and Orland Bethel – buy the company from Buckeye Egg Farm, which was repeatedly fined for environmental problems.

The DeCoster family owns more than 13 million chickens in Maine and Iowa and is among the nation’s largest egg producers.

The DeCosters were sure Ohio’s difficult permitting process would keep them from being able to buy the company, Peter DeCoster told The Columbus Dispatch in an interview in Iowa.

“They wouldn’t have approved my father,” Peter DeCoster said. “We didn’t want to go through all the scrutiny in the press.”