Earth Equity News

California Egg Producers Bitter About Proposition 2. By Samantha Young, AP, November 8, 2008. "California's new ban on the use of cramped cages for hens could jeopardize the future of large-scale egg production in the state, farmers and agriculture analysts warn... The farm-animal welfare measure requires that hens, pregnant pigs and calves raised for veal be given enough room to stand up, lie down, turn around and fully extend their limbs... How big those pens and cages must be could determine whether California farmers can stay in business as production costs go up, said Jill Benson, vice president of J.S. West and Cos., which operates three hen barns. Veal and pork production are not major industries in California so the impact of the proposition will be felt largely by the state's egg farmers, whose production last year was valued at $337 million. It will be up to state regulators to draft new guidelines before Jan. 1, 2015, when the measure takes effect. 'We've got a lot to figure out,' Benson said. 'Do we move out of the country? Do we move out of the state or do we fight with regulators, judges and attorneys?'... California now produces some 5 billion eggs a year... The measure makes California the first to impose restrictions on so-called battery cages that are used nationwide to house egg-laying hens. Battery hens are typically enclosed for life in wire mesh cages that are often stacked in tiers. 'We saw this as putting down a marker to be heard nationwide that all animals, including those raised for food, deserve humane treatment,' said Jennifer Fearing, chief economist at Humane Society of the United States."