Egg farm looks for a rule book

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Egg farm JS West filed a lawsuit against the State of California in December over Proposition 2, which will outlaw battery cages by 2015. JS West isn't challenging the legality of the law, which was passed after a referendum in November 2009. The owners just want the new regulations explained.

The problem is that egg producers don't know what they can and cannot build to meet the new law's expectations. JS West has already spent US$3 million on a new "enriched colony housing system" which has been approved by the American Humane Association and is approved under Europe's 2012 standards. But there is no guarantee that the state's laws will accept this system. JS West is ready to spend US$30 million more to upgrade its barns, but it wants to be sure that the changes will be acceptable.

The lawsuit is likely to take another year and a half to settle. According to the American Farm Bureau, California is the fifth largest egg producer in the United States with 19 million laying hens producing more than 4.9 billion eggs. BF