Animal Rights
By Janet Zimmerman
Inland farmers are fighting a ballot measure to eliminate the cage system used in egg production, a change they say would drive the $337 million industry out of California, taking jobs and tax revenue with it.
The farmers have joined forces and contributed to a million-dollar campaign to defeat Prop. 2, which prohibits confining certain farm animals in a way that keeps them from lying down, standing up, fully extending their legs and turning around freely.
"It’s going to put me out of business," said Ed Voortman, who bought his 5-acre operation in Ontario from his father in 1975. "Our heritage will be gone. My son won’t be able to carry on."
Going completely cage-free will take more land than Voortman can afford, he said.
In addition to the state’s20 million egg-laying hens, the measure sponsored by the Humane Society of the United States would apply to crates used for pregnant pigs and calves raised for veal.
The initiative, which would make California the first U.S. state to ban small wire cages for egg-laying hens, goes before voters in November.
Supporters called the dire economic predictions of the egg industry out of proportion with the "modest" proposal that reflects consumers’ growing demand for humanely produced food.
The birds now have less space than a letter-size piece of paper, they said.
A July Field poll showed 63 percent of voters favor the measure; 24 percent oppose it; and 13 percent were undecided.
The conversion to cage-free systems over the next six years would result in a cost increase of less than a penny per egg, said Jennifer Fearing, manager of the Yes on Prop. 2 campaign.
Study Says Cost Will Rise.
But an economic analysis by UC Davis last month predicted higher production costs would result in an "almost complete elimination" of egg production in the state if the measure passes and the restrictions take effect in 2015.
The study attributed cost increases to additional labor needed to collect eggs, a higher mortality rate among cage-free chickens, fewer marketable eggs, and more wasted feed.
Another study, by the national United Egg Producers and the Sacramento-based Pacific Egg and Poultry Association, pegged state industry losses from the measure at 3,400 jobs and $615 million.
The cost of conversion would make California producers noncompetitive, while less-expensive cage systems would continue elsewhere, the analysis by UC Davis’ Agriculture Issues Center predicts.
Producers Will Leave.
"There’s not a single bird that will be housed any differently. . . . They’ll just be in a different state or a different country," said Gary Foster, general manager of Norco Ranch, which keeps 3 million leghorns and Rhode Island reds on farms throughout Riverside and San Bernardino counties.
Norco Ranch produces2.5 million dozen eggs a week, packs them for most of the Southern California grocery stores and distributes them.
Free-range, cage-free and organic eggs make up less than 7 percent of Norco Ranch sales, primarily because consumers demand caged eggs that can cost less than half the price of specialty eggs, Foster said.
If the measure passes, Foster said he would destroy his hens and move to distribution only. It would mean a loss of 300 jobs with about $9 million in total annual salary, he said.
Practice ’Increases Health’
He and other farmers said caging hens, a practice that began in the 1930s, increases health and safety by elevating birds above their waste and reducing the incidence of salmonella and other bacteria.
In a cage-free environment, hens will eat bugs and their own feces, Foster said. He treats his birds well, he said, giving them plenty of water and food and protecting them from aggressive pecking by other hens.
They are kept four to six in a cage, and the enclosures are stacked up to six high indoors. "It’s important for us to treat our birds well so they are productive," Foster said. "We do not focus as much on animal behavior. They are not pets. We are extremely concerned that they produce well, that they live, that they’re not stressed."
Feed mills, rail lines and trucking companies also could suffer under Prop. 2, opponents said. Kurt Allen, owner of Coast Packaging in Mira Loma, said 60 percent of his business comes from the egg industry, which uses Coast’s cardboard egg cartons, flats and other supplies. (This story was posted first by the Press Enterprise. More news and views at www.pe.com .) ◘
CityWatch
Vol 6 Issue 65
Pub: Auguste 12, 2008
|
