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At a recent farmers market, David Smith sold 10 dozen of his eggs — to one customer.

Smith, owner of Springfield Farm in Sparks, sells at farmers markets in Annapolis and Bethesda on weekends. He typically sells "one or two dozen" eggs at the markets.

The nationwide recall of millions of eggs from two Iowa farm companies because of salmonella contamination has "led to good news for us, but bad news for them," Smith said. "I really feel for the other farmers."

Other small egg farmers in Maryland also report a run on their hens' output.

People are asking Stephanie Rohrer-Scuderi where her eggs come from and want to see the hens at her farm, Fox Hollow Farm in Gaithersburg.

"We had to turn some people away," Scuderi said. "Our longtime shoppers get first dibs."

Because Scuderi sells mostly meat at her farm, she has seen an increase of only about 3 percent in egg sales. Fox Hollow produces up to 60 dozen eggs a week, she said, but also sells lamb, pork, broiler chickens and Thanksgiving turkeys.

Safeway stores in Maryland have not been affected by the nationwide recall, said Greg TenEyck, director of public affairs for Safeway's Eastern division in Lanham. The company's Maryland stores receive their eggs from two farms in Pennsylvania, he said.

Giant Food supermarkets in Maryland also have not been affected by the recall and do not receive any products from the affected suppliers, said spokesman Jamie Miller.

Brian Schiner said he hasn't had any problems with eggs at his farm, which he attributes to raising his chickens freely on pasture land. Schiner, owner of Wagon Wheel Ranch in Mount Airy, has 200 chickens producing 1,000 eggs a week. "We sell every egg we can produce."

Trying to squeeze a lot of hens into a small space is a threat to food safety and can lead to problems such as contamination, according to Will Morrow, owner and operator of Whitmore Farm in Emmitsburg.

"Transporting food long distances can also lead to more potential for things to go wrong because of things like a spike in temperature," he said.

Morrow's farm produces about 200 eggs a day and its wholesale customers are asking for more, he said.

"We're already operating at-capacity, and the demand for local eggs can only go up," Morrow said. He was looking into expanding his egg production even before the recent recall.

Smith also is looking into increasing egg production at his farm and is considering adding more birds to boost its 2,200-egg daily production.

"We have pretty much maxed-out our processing capability," Smith said.

Nick Maravell's farm is "not a big producer" of eggs, but sales have remained steady, said Maravell, owner of Nick's Organic Farm, which grows products in Potomac and Adamstown.

"We're always sold out," said Maravell, whose farm produces up to 40 dozen eggs a week.

Most of the eggs produced at Jehovah-Jireh Farm in Dickerson are sold to local health-food stores, said owner Myron Horst. The farm produces about 450 dozen eggs a week and Horst plans to add more hens in the fall to increase production.

"We have been selling more this past week after a slow summer," he said.

chuntemann@gazette.net