Agricultural News
HSUS and United Egg Producers Agreement Could Cause Problems for Other Ag Industries
Fri, 08 Jul 2011 15:59:26 CDT
The Humane Society of the United States and the United Egg Producers announce an unprecedented agreement to work together toward the enactment of comprehensive new federal legislation for all 280 million hens involved in U.S. egg production. The proposed standards advocated by UEP and HSUS, if enacted, would be the first federal law addressing the treatment of animals on farms.
The proposed legislation would:
-require conventional cages (currently used by more than 90 percent of the egg industry) to be replaced, through an ample phase-in period, with new, enriched housing systems that provide each hen nearly double the amount of space they're currently allotted. Egg producers will invest an additional $4 billion over the next decade and a half to effect this industry-wide make-over;
-require that all egg-laying hens be provided, through the new enriched housing system, with environments that will allow hens to express natural behaviors, such as perches, nesting boxes, and scratching areas;
-mandate labeling on all egg cartons nationwide to inform consumers of the method used to produce the eggs, such as "eggs from caged hens," "eggs from hens in enriched cages," "eggs from cage-free hens," and "eggs from free-range hens";
-prohibit feed- or water-withholding molting to extend the laying cycle, a practice already prohibited by the United Egg Producers Certified program adhered to by a majority of egg farmers;
-require standards approved by the American Veterinary Medical Association for euthanasia for egg laying hens;
-prohibit excessive ammonia levels in henhouses;
-prohibit the sale of eggs and egg products nationwide that don't meet these requirements.
The two groups will jointly ask Congress for federal legislation which would require egg producers to increase space per bird in a tiered phase in, with the amount of space birds are given increasing, in intervals, over the next 15 to 18 years. Currently, the majority of birds are each provided 67 square inches of space, with roughly 50 million receiving 48 square inches. The proposed phase-in would culminate with hens nationwide being provided a minimum of 124 - 144 square inches of space, along with the other improvements noted.
We talked with Roy Lee Lindsey, Executive Director for Oklahoma Pork Council, about how this could potentially affect the pork industry, as well as other agricultural industries.
"It is a significant change," said Lindsey. "The egg producers are saying, we aren't going to defend what we have been doing any longer and we are going to change to a new system. And HSUS is saying, we support this new system."
Lindsey also said that HSUS will begin to focus their attention on other parts of the agricultural industry with the development of this agreement. It really frees up HSUS to focus other places and that should be a concern to all of us, says Lindsey.
As for forward movement on the agreement, it is really up to Congress. This agreement is dependent on the law passing through Congress before we see significant changes, like a rise in egg prices, says Lindsey.
If passed by Congress, the legislation would supersede state laws including those that have been passed in Arizona, California, Michigan and Ohio. In recognition of ballot Proposition 2 passed by voters in that California in 2008, UEP and HSUS will ask Congress to require California egg producers - with nearly 20 million laying hens - to eliminate conventional cages by 2015 (the date Prop 2 is scheduled to go into effect), and provide all hens with the space and environmental enrichments that the rest of the egg industry will be phasing in over the next 15 to 18 years. These requirements will also apply to the sale of all eggs and egg products in California under the proposed federal legislation.
This agreement to pass comprehensive federal legislation for standards of egg production puts a hold on planned ballot measures related to egg-laying hens in both Washington and Oregon.
As for the pork industry, it could be detrimental if legislation like this is discussed for sows. Any changes that would impact sows, would really impact Oklahoma pork producers said Lindsey.
Click on the LISTEN bar below to listen to Ron Hays and Roy Lee Lindsey discuss the proposed legislation and how it could potentially affect agricultural industries.
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