Rose Acre Farms history

1955: A new, larger hen house is constructed.

1975: The hen population reaches one million.

In 1984, at the age of 58, he decided he wanted "more children and more chickens," as he later told Crain's Chicago Business.

By 1987 Rust had built four new farms, three in Indiana and one near Winterset, Iowa, and had also fathered four new children.

1989: Lois Rust Takes Control

1990: A salmonella outbreak linked to the firm's eggs leads to losses, new federal rules; Rose Acre builds its first egg breaking and processing plant.

In 1992 Rose Acre Farms was ranked the 25th largest firm run by a woman in the United States by Working Woman magazine.

In early 1993 Rose Acre made a deal to license a patented method of processing liquid eggs with microwaves to extend their shelf life.

In 1994 Rose Acre built a third egg-laying facility in Iowa, which would house 1.5 million hens.

The summer of 1995 brought a heat wave that killed more than 750,000 of Rose Acre's 13 million chickens.

In early 1998 Rose Acre introduced a new egg called Golden Premium that contained seven times the vitamin E of regular eggs and enhanced levels of omega-3 fatty acids.

1999: The company begins printing "laid on" dates on eggs.

The year 2002 also saw the United Egg Producers organization adopt a new set of animal welfare standards under pressure from animal rights activists.

In the summer of 2003 Rose Acre entered the early stages of planning for a massive new production facility in North Carolina that would house three to four million chickens.