We fully support the Op-Ed by Will Coggin in the March 26^th edition of the Wall Street Journal entitled “California Flies the Constitutional Coop.” Mr. Coggin’s Op-Ed correctly noted that California is assuming the role of determining the commerce of eggs which is a violation of the U.S. Constitution Article 1, Section 8, Clause 3 granting the U.S. Congress the power to regulate commerce between the States.  California Title 3 Section 1350 of the CA Code of Regulations requires out-of-state egg farmers selling eggs in California to implement CA’s Salmonella  reduction which goes beyond the federal guidelines under FDA’s food safety standards for eggs (Title 21, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 118 [21 CFR Part 118], “Production, Storage, and Transportation of Shell Eggs).  This action to regulate commerce is why 5 other states have joined the initiative behind Missouri’s Attorney General Chris Koster’s lawsuit against the California Attorney General along with members of the California Department of Food and Agriculture.  Those states are Iowa, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Kentucky and Alabama. 

California has also claimed in other newspapers that food safety, quality, and welfare were reasons for supporting this regulation.  Consider the following evidence in rebuttal.

As it relates to food safety, Dr. R.K. Gast at the U.S. Department of Agriculture Southeast Regional Laboratory in Athens, GA along with 3 other scientists recently published their findings that there is no significant differences (P > 0.05) in the frequency of egg contamination  by Salmonella in chickens housed in conventional cages as compared to enriched cages, the ones promoted by California in their regulation. (Poultry Science 2014 Mar;93(3):728-33. doi: 10.3382/ps.2013-03641).

California claimed better quality eggs.  However, the Coalition for Sustainable Egg Supply is reporting on their website that their research showed that egg quality was not impacted by hen housing systems (http://www2.sustainableeggcoalition.org/). 

California claimed better welfare with their enriched cages as compared to conventional cages.  This too has been shown to be faulty. The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) in 2010 released a report on the welfare implications of various kinds of housing. (www.avma.org/issues/animal_welfare/cage_noncage_systems.asp) The report concluded consumers need to balance the hen’s freedom against exposure to potential hazards such as disease vectors and the cannibalism caused by pecking. Certainly cannibalism and pecking are welfare issues, and in conventional cages where the number of chickens is minimized, these concerns are also reduced compared to other systems.

Dr. Kenneth Anderson, NC State University, presented his research findings to delegates at the 2010 Midwest Poultry Federation Convention March 16-18, 2010 where he noted that chickens reared in conventional cages (310 sq. cm/bird) had significantly greater numbers of Grade A eggs, significantly greater numbers of total eggs produced, and significantly better feed conversion rates (meaning a lower carbon footprint), and a better immune response (meaning better able to resist disease).  Certainly these are indicators of a healthier chicken and thus better welfare.

We appreciate that the readers of the Wall Street Journal can understand that California’s egg regulations are, in addition to being unconstitutional, also not science-based, but instead just more political science.

The National Association of Egg Farmers (NAEF) was in Washington, DC May 7 joining with a coalition of other groups under the banner The Smarter Fuel Future (SFF). In a meeting with the EPA Director of Transportation and Air Quality, Chris Grundler, he encouraged the group to petition Congress as he is only carrying out the law.  NAEF reminded him of his discretionary authority on ethanol volume percentages for the RFS program and asked for a balance between the statutory requirements based on the petitions from the coalition meeting with him

The coalition included livestock groups such as the National Turkey Federation, the California Cattlemen Association, Michigan Allied Poultry Association,The Milk Producers Council, the American Meat Institute who are opposed to expanding corn-based ethanol and the Renewable Fuel Standard increasing because ethanol mandates:

• ·raise feed prices,
• ·raise food prices,
• ·hurt efforts to curb global hunger,
• ·put engines at risk of damage,
• ·increase emissions,
• ·negatively alter land and water use,
• ·lower fuel economy

The “RFS Day of Action” including a meeting with EPA and key Members of Congress, calling on the EPA to maintain its proposed 2014 RVO and for the Congress to take up legislative reform that would permanently address the problems inherent in the current RFS.

Groups Participating:

• Action Aid
• American Bakers Association
• American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers
• American Meat Institute
• American Motorcycle Association
• California Cattlemen’s Association
• Coalition of Energy Users
• Colorado Off Highway Vehicle Coalition
• Colorado Snowmobile Association
• Engrave, Inc.
• Florida Concrete and Products Association
• Florida Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association
• HeartLands Conservancy
• Michigan Allied Poultry Industries
• Michigan Boating Industries Association
• Michigan Snowmobile Association
• National Association of Egg Farmers
• North Carolina Federation of College Republicans
• National Taxpayers Union
• National Turkey Federation
• One New York (representing NYC consumers)
• Oregon Recreational Association
• Oregon Small Business Association
• Oregon State Snowmobile Association
• Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Central Pennsylvania
• Young Republican National Federation (representing conservative college students)

Farm Policy Picks Up Ethanol Meetings With NAEF Headliner

Farm Policy, a popular blog circulated widely on Capitol Hill and at USDA, picked up on the ethanol meetings in Washington, DC on May 7.  This is what they circulated in their blog:

Ken Klippen of The National Association of Egg Farmers, and Greg Gibeson a member of the board of directors for the Recreational Boaters of California, noted in an update yesterday at The Hill’s Congress Blog that, “Today, seventeen industry leaders from a diverse swath of America’s business landscape have convened in Washington united in concern over bad government policy albeit hopeful that a solution is near. Representing interests as disparate as cattle ranchers to snowmobile manufacturers and concrete producers, these men and women have come from across the country to make a final plea to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to stick to proposed reductions to the Renewable Fuel Standard’s biofuel blending requirements in 2014. As the EPA’s final ruling looms, it’s become all too clear that America’s biofuels policy has failed as consumers face consequences like engine damage, greater gasoline costs, rising food prices and dirtier air as more and more ethanol is blended into our gasoline supply.”

The National Association of Egg Farmers’ President Ken Klippen testified at the Senate Agriculture Committee’s hearing July 7^th on the impact of avian influenza on the poultry industry.  Klippen said this virus was affecting every sized egg farmer, but the impact will be far greater with international trade impacting the entire economy.  He noted that 20% of the broilers are exported annually along with 12% of the turkeys and just under 5% of the eggs and egg products.  Klippen stated that 18 countries have already banned all poultry from the U.S. including China, South Korea, South Africa, and Russia.  Klippen also stated 31 countries have restricted trade with the U.S. from the infected regions or zones including Canada, Mexico, Japan, and the European Union.  Currently there are 48 countries worldwide reporting highly pathogenic avian influenza. Thomas Elam, President, FarmEcon LLC, from Carmel, Indiana also on the panel estimated a $3.3 billion loss from the depopulated chickens and turkeys due to this recent outbreak.  He added that a $1.2 billion loss could be attributed to the broiler meat industry, not from depopulated birds, but lost export markets with the chickens produced being sold domestically, increasing supplies and lowering prices.  Elam said that should this avian flu strike in Alabama and Georgia where the broiler industry dominates, the economic losses will be several magnitudes higher than what occurred with turkeys and eggs.

Klippen also reiterated the indemnification plan proposed to APHIS in May and urged the Senators to help keep the payment to egg farmers consistent with the federal regulations specifying future egg production. 

http://www.ag.senate.gov/hearings/highly-pathogenic-avian-influenza-the-impact-on-the-us-poultry-sector-and-protecting-us-poultry-flocks

To see NAEF’s testimony, fast forward the time segment in the bottom of the screen to 1:49:05 to 1:53:14. Also the response to a key question at 2:09:19 to 2:09:59