The National Association of Egg Farmers remains committed to retaining conventional cage systems and allowing U.S. egg farmers to produce eggs for the consumers in their markets without the dictates of a national law mandating production standards.  This article from Farming UK (see website below) demonstrates the suffering resulting in Europe as a result of implementing their national egg law (EU Council Directive 1999/74/ED on January 1, 2012).  The Germans moved even quicker than the whole of the European Union and implemented a new national law in 2010.  

http://www.farminguk.com/News/German-egg-producers-face-insolvency-as-supermarkets-discount_29844.html

This article quotes Hans Wilhelm-Windhorst with the International Egg Commission saying that 30% of the German egg farmers will likely become insolvent by October.  Prices have fallen to where producing eggs is unsustainable.  It’s interesting to note that Hans Wilhelm-Windhorst was a featured speaker at the January 2013 “Future of the Egg Industry” Forum in Atlanta during the IPPE and he reported the impact on German egg farmers in 2010 led to (1) a loss of egg production, (2) an increase in egg imports from other countries, (3) the forced foreclosure of many egg farms.  

The article shown above in Farming UK reports that egg farmers in Europe need to increase their efficiency, and that consumers want a reduction in price.  When the EU implemented their national egg law, egg farmers made the capital investments to meet the new law only to regret it later.

Will this mistake ever happen in this country?  The National Association of Egg Farmers will fight to retain conventional cage systems for the most efficient and cost-effective method of producing a safe and wholesome egg in the U.S.

In its May 22, 2017 Egg Farmers Newsletter, NAEF brought to the attention of the egg industry, poultry press, and some in Washington, DC of a legal case in Colorado that could become precedent setting against farmers by animal activists.  The information came from Linda Chezem, a Professor Emerita at Purdue, who started an Animal Production & Law summer course many years ago for those in law school who wanted to learn about animal agriculture case law. This course is now located at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln and is transitioning to an on-line class. The current lead instructor is Anthony Schutz.  

To the Board of Directors at Kraft Foods

On December 12, 2017 The National Association of Egg Farmers, representing egg farmers nationwide, respectfully urged Kraft Foods to reconsider its policy on sourcing eggs only from cage-free egg production flocks.  There are four reasons why farmers have evolved to producing eggs with chickens in cages.

1.Food Safety and Security

Food safety is paramount and refutes claims that cage-free improves egg safety. Penn State researchers have found that eggs from small flocks of chickens are more likely to be contaminated with Salmonella enteritidis as eggs sold in grocery stores, which typically come from larger flocks. The analysis of the Salmonella enteritidis present in the eggs from small flocks shows they are the same types commonly reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from human foodborne outbreaks.

1. 2.Human Health and Welfare

A study conducted by the Coalition for Sustainable Egg Supply reported that the cage-free system had dust levels 8-10 times higher than other systems. In addition, the cage-free system resulted in high worker exposure to endotoxin dust particles and reduced lung function by the end of a shift.

1. 3.Sustainable Egg Production Systems

The rush by retailers and food manufacturers to source their egg needs from cage-free facilities must consider these facts on sustainability.The cost to implement new barns for cage-free chickens needed is calculated at $45 per chicken.  For 200 million chickens producing for retailers demanding cage-free systems, that’s a capital investment of $9 billion. Cage-free egg production costs are determined to be 36% higher than conventional.

1. 4.Animal Welfare and Husbandry

The Coalition for Sustainable Egg Supply reported at International Poultry Production and Processing Exposition in Atlanta, GA on January 26, 2016:

Total accumulated mortality was highest in the cage-free system (11.5 percent), due to aggressive pecking and cannibalism. It was 4.7 percent in conventional cages. This results from the hens establishing a pecking order among the chickens in a flock. Conventional cages reduces the size of this population and thus reduces the stress caused from pecking.

Keel bone breakage was highest in the cage-free system. Increased keel bone breakage was confirmed with New Research at the University of California-Davis. This new research study shows the majority of breast bone damage originates from collisions with perches in cage-free environments. Dr. Maja Makagon, assistant professor of applied animal behavior at University of California, Davis’ Department of Animal Science, noted the increased bone breakage in cage-free systems.