Posted on 12/20/2014 6:50:39 PM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
If eggs are a staple in your family’s diet and you’d like to keep it that way, now would be a good time to get a few laying hens. Next month, beginning January 1, 2015, the chicken-and-egg production in the United States is in for a big shock. That’s when California’s new regulations on egg-laying hens goes into effect. And the effects of those regs on eggs will be felt nationally, even globally. The incredible, edible, prolate spheroid-shaped poultry product, which has long been one of the most affordable sources of high-quality protein, is certain to become significantly more expensive.
In 2008, the Humane Society of the United States spent $10 million on a statewide campaign in California to pass Proposition 2, which bans the sale of eggs from hens kept in restrictive “battery cages” that are lined row-on-row in major hatcheries. Battery cage systems, which are the standard in the industry, account for over 90 percent of the eggs produced in the country.
The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and its allies convinced California voters to support Proposition 2 by claiming that battery cages: a) are cruel, not allowing chickens free, natural movement, and; b) increase incidence of salmonella in eggs. The cruelty charge is moral/esthetic argument open to debate under those parameters. The salmonella charge, on the other hand, gives the appearance of being scientific and falling under the state’s purview of health and safety protection. However, the science supporting the salmonella justification appears to be weak, and was likely tagged on to the initiative by HSUS to win consumer support for its larger “animal rights” agenda. Nevertheless, the Golden State’s new standards require that the minimum size of each hen’s cage increase from a floor of 67 square inches to 116 square inches, an increase of more than 73 percent. Rebuilding coops and cages is costly, especially on top of the increased costs of the severe drought that has afflicted California and much of the West.
In order to meet the new standards, chicken farmers will have to either build more cages, reduce the number of hens — or both. That translates into higher costs for each chicken and egg; which, in turn, translates into higher costs for consumers. How much higher is the big unknown, at this point. The price Californians pay for eggs may jump as much as 20 percent in three to six months, according to Dermot J. Hayes, an agribusiness professor at Iowa State University in Ames quoted by Bloomberg.com on December 13.
And, says Prof. Hayes, the rest of the country will probably follow suit. The Bloomberg story reported that wholesale egg prices “already average a record $2.27 a dozen nationally, up 34 percent from a year earlier.”
How do California’s egg regs affect the price of eggs in Iowa or Alabama? California already imports 4 billion eggs a year from other states. The new mandates will almost certainly cause many California egg producers out of business and cause those that survive to increase their prices. This alone would cause a national supply-and-demand impact, as out-of-state producers rushed to fill the void in California. In order to protect California farmers from the cheaper out-of-state competition, the California legislature passed Assembly Bill 1437, which applies Prop 2’s standards to out-of-state eggs sold in California. Farmers in Missouri, Oklahoma, Iowa, Nebraska, Alabama, and Kentucky filed suit in federal court, claiming that this is an illegal attempt by California to protect its industry and regulate out-of-state businesses in violation of the U.S. Constitution’s interstate commerce clause. In October, U.S. District Court Judge Kimberly J. Mueller dismissed the six-state suit, but they are appealing the decision. As their suit winds its way through the appeals process, many egg producers outside of California are already restructuring their operations in order to comply with the new mandates. But they may find, after having made huge investments in new fowl-friendly cages, that the USHS has moved the goalposts. As, indeed, they already have.
Inhumane Society
The Humane Society is not satisfied with the eggscruciating havoc they’ve already caused. The new 116 square-inch/cage standard is not sufficient, says HSUS, which now says 216 square inches should be the minimum. HSUS is actually pushing for “cage free” standards, and beyond that to “free range” standards. And beyond that to a completely vegan society. “Cage free” chicken are kept in a barn, but not in cages. “Free range” chickens may have a barn to roost in and lay eggs, but can also have access to the outdoors.
“We have a very active cage-free campaign,” HSUS Vice President Miyun Park has said (hear recording here). “Are we saying that cage-free eggs are the way to go?” she continued. “No, that’s not what we’re saying. But we’re saying it’s a step in the right direction.”
And where is that direction is taking us? “We don't want any of these animals to be raised and killed,” says Park, referring to all domestic livestock. But, she says, “unfortunately we don't have the luxury of waiting until we have the opportunity to get rid of the entire industry.” When she says “the entire industry,” she clearly means all farming that produces animals for human consumption. She goes on to say that “a number of organizations including the Humane Society of the United States ... work on promoting veganism.”
Those familiar with the history of the HSUS are not surprised that it has upped the ante in the egg wars. ActivstFacts.com, a website that tracks the activities of organizations, activists, and tax-exempt foundations, has assembled a portfolio of very damning evidence against HSUS, which falsely portrays itself as an “animal welfare” organization.
HSUS regularly uses photos of abused dogs, cats, and other animals in heartrending television and print ad campaigns to raise millions of dollars, supposedly to care for these unfortunate victims of abuse. However, it seems the money goes instead to fund the HSUS radical “green” vegan/animal rights agenda ... and the salaries, perks, and pension plans of its execs.
“The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is a radical animal rights group that inaccurately portrays itself as a mainstream animal care organization,” charges ActivistFacts. “The words ‘humane society’ may appear on its letterhead, but HSUS is not affiliated with your local animal shelter. Despite the omnipresent dogs and cats in its fundraising materials and television commercials, it’s not an organization that runs spay/neuter programs or takes in stray, neglected, and abused pets. And quite unlike the common image of animal protection agencies as cash-strapped organizations dedicated to animal welfare, HSUS has become the wealthiest animal rights organization on earth.”
ActivistFacts and its parent organization, the Center for Organizational Research and Education (CORE), have launched a separate website on HSUS, HumaneWatch.org , that features many statements from HSUS President Wayne Pacelle and other HSUS officials, such as Paul Shapiro, Josh Balk, and Miyun Park, showing that the ultimate objective of the Humane Society of the United States is to end all livestock farming. Driving up the cost of eggs and driving many egg producers into bankruptcy is but one of many campaigns HSUS underway to radically rearrange American society.
Full disclosure: The author of this article has no financial ties to either the cage-free or conventional egg lobbies, even though all chickens, ducks, turkeys, goats, cats, dogs and other animals (domestic rabbits excepted) on the Jasper ranch are raised as cage free, free range, natural, and organic critters.
Nowhere, since it is a rooster.
If it is a hen, then downhill, if there is any significant slope to the roof.
My prize shall be one-dozen eggs.
See you at Krogers.
You'll be happy to know that it will.
The hard winter of 2012-2013 killed hundreds of thousands of cows and calves in the Dakota's, Wyoming, Montana, and Colorado. Most in just a few days.
It's going to take some time for those herds to be built back up, but The American Farmer and Rancher is up to the task.
There will be prenty of beef to go around.
Looks like I’ll have to shell out more money for breakfast.
Thanks for the ping!
I pay a friend who needs the money $3.00 a dozen for freerange Americauca eggs. They eat anything they find, some grain, some feed and table scraps. The eggs have heavy dark orange yolks and taste much better than grocery store eggs. When I make egg-heavy dishes, the difference is marked. When included in baked foods, they make the biggest difference of all.
Plus they are blue, green, brown, and pink, which the kids love.
They remind me of eggs from my childhood which came from a local farm.
I hope yours are just as good.
Do you ask your friend to wash them? I asked the friend I get mine from to stop.
Eggs have a natural protective coating that gets washed off in the US, but most countries leave it on and they stay much more fresh. I wash them off before I use them.
Egg shortage caused by several factors...problems in Mexico and Canada that have decimated supply in those countries. High prices in beef have moved consumers to poultry and there has been continued consolidation of poultry producers. All of those factors have led to a case of high demand and not enough capacity.
If they can keep the bird flu from hopping the border into WA and MN....where there are two large poultry companies ...expectation is that pricing should moderate before spring
She does not wash them for that very reason! I’m lucky, she has several breeds including Ameraucana. I get some lovely blue shell eggs.
Agree with your sentiment -
Sorry but I've seen those 1 foot by 1 foot cages - sometime with 2 chickens to a cage - lined up by the hundreds FOR THEIR ENTIRE LIVES... with a moving conveyer belt underneath to catch the eggs -
No living, breathing creature should be treated like that - not to mention the quality of those eggs.
I'd have my own hens if possible, but the next best thing is getting them from a friend - and it's a treat, when I pick them up , to see them happily clucking around the grounds and gardens - FREE RANGING - and they have a real hen house to be safe in at night - with brooding boxes and roosting rails - and clean straw on the floor.
And those egg yolks are bright HEALTHY orange - the way eggs should be.
So those of you who think the status quo is just fine - keep buying your unhealthy, all but useless as to nutrition, eggs. You deserve what you get.
win-win!
and they should also have lovely music available to listen to, and be able to improve their minds through learning..
My chickens refuse to eat store bought eggs. I have very smart chickens.
It doesn't roll, it slides.
Roosters lay square eggs and only on the third blue moon of the year, in the summer.
Also, squirrels will steal their food while the chickens are out in the yard.
One of my hens would chase them but always to late.
Some retailers sell eggs at below wholesale and support the low prices with other product prices in order to keep customers (see info behind following link). Wholesale egg prices in California are expected to go down next week. Notice how much higher wholesale egg prices are in California compared to other states with greater production.
http://www.ams.usda.gov/mnreports/pybshellegg.pdf
OK the info is appreciated.
I don’t understand why that would cause such a huge price increase on the east coast, as we have egg farms and poultry companies here.
The beef issue yes, although many black angus farms are in my state NC. I can see the high demand on poultry due to beef costs.
This is disturbing that we aren’t keeping more local suppliers of those staples like poultry farms and egg producers all around the country. I do remember some issue here in NC a few years ago on poultry and eggs, but I thought that had been resolved....more research.
Thanks for keeping us informed.
The issue is that California requirements apply to eggs produced in Minnesota and North Carolina too, if producers might sell eggs in California.
Chain stores and restaurants have national distribution systems where it’s too costly to segregate commodities based on origin location.
not to worry
egg production is an elastic activity. If the cost rise beyond sustainable levels in socialist california, production will simply move or grow elsewhere.
the fools in California will suffer
Californians have a hard time saying “NO” on propositions.
I don’t know why.
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