Cage-fight: Rep scrambles to stop California from imposing its egg laws on other states

I found this interesting and didn't find it in an ATS search so here goes..

Should California tell farmers throughout the country how to run their farms? Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, says no.

"It's exactly what our founding fathers wanted to avoid," King said.

But the rural-state lawmaker is concerned over California's strict laws on egg producers and other farmers as a result of Proposition 2, a ballot initiative passed by voters in 2008. The law requires egg producers to increase their cage size to more than 200 square inches, more than triple the industry recommendation. As a result, farmers from other states must comply with California hen cage standards if they wish to sell their product in the Golden State.

If they don't comply, they can't do business there.

But not if King has his way. He's proposed an amendment to the pending farm bill in Congress which would allow farmers in other states to sell eggs in California without having to comply with the state's law.

The Farmers point of view

"There's no reason for anybody to produce an egg in this state when it can be produced in another state for half the cost," said Eddie Voortman, a third-generation egg rancher in Ontario, Calif.

At Voortman's Egg Ranch, they're gearing up to change their chicken cages to comply with California law, which takes effect in 2015. That will take money. And it will leave them with fewer hens.

"We're gonna have to open up the cages quite a bit, give them a lot more room to spread around," Voortman said, overlooking his farm's 50,000 hens. "That's kinda where we're at a disadvantage right now. Other states aren't gonna have to comply with that."

"It was a mistake for California to do what it did," King said. "I'm sorry that that's the case. But we can't impose that mistake on the rest of America."

While the Humane Society is typically no friend of farmers, now they are working hand in hand with the egg lobby to pass a different bill, one which would standardize the size of hen cages nationwide. It's a concession for egg producers who believe a national standard could pre-empt one state from telling another how to raise its farm animals.

www.foxnews.com...

This is a tough call. On one hand each state has the right to make it's own laws. California's egg cage law seems it would actually do more harm for California than good. But this also plays right into the hands and agenda of the Humane Society who would be more than happy to force all chicken cages across America to be larger. This would force egg farmers all across the country to have to spend lots of money to enlarge the cages and also force them to have fewer hens for laying. Could such a step actually create a national egg shortage if every one had fewer hens? Will the results from this controversy cause egg prices to rise even higher?

I see nothing wrong with this. Its no different than firearm laws. Think about it. If firearm manufacturers want to sell in Cali, they have to offer models that fit the state's capacity restrictions. Some manu's choose to do it. Others dont.

I can't take sides on this one. I don't want my grocery bill to go higher, but the chickens should have more room.

Wouldn't it be cheaper to let them run around a farm, instead of building any cages? I've had chickens and let them run free they never left the yard, and when they did they always came back.

Until the neighbors chow eat them, chows are really mean dogs...

Originally posted by captaintyinknots
I see nothing wrong with this. Its no different than firearm laws. Think about it. If firearm manufacturers want to sell in Cali, they have to offer models that fit the state's capacity restrictions. Some manu's choose to do it. Others dont.

Well if out of state manufacturers had to produce pink and purple polka dotted eggs for sale in California ( simply a different type of egg) , I'd agree with you, but that's not the case. Gun manufacturers will not have to change the entire way they do business if they want to do business with California, - like the egg farmers will (they will simply produce a new product ) - and this could put all egg farmers in California out of business. That threat is not happening to the gun makers.

Originally posted by JohnPhoenix

Originally posted by captaintyinknots
I see nothing wrong with this. Its no different than firearm laws. Think about it. If firearm manufacturers want to sell in Cali, they have to offer models that fit the state's capacity restrictions. Some manu's choose to do it. Others dont.

Well if out of state manufacturers had to produce pink and purple polka dotted eggs for sale in California ( simply a different type of egg) , I'd agree with you, but that's not the case. Gun manufacturers will not have to change the entire way they do business if they want to do business with California, - like the egg farmers will (they will simply produce a new product ) - and this could put all egg farmers in California out of business. That threat is not happening to the gun makers.

I simply dont buy it. I have raised chickens. The overhead is ridiculously low. The only reason chickens are kept so tightly packed in is so the farmers can squeeze every penny out of them.

but the bottom line is, no one is being forced to do business in california. If out of state egg farmers want to sell there, they meet the standards. If not, they dont sell there.

Now, the local farmers want to gripe? im fine with that. They are the ones having their hands forced. But farmers from other states? Too bad, so sad. Find another market, if you dont like that one.

Just out of curiosity, can someone tell me how this bill will aid the consumers of California? I can see how it hurts the egg producers of the other states, but is there some reason to tax California citizens for chicken comfort?

We can't even give the chickens a better, more free life...how will we ever get OURSELVES a better, more free life?

I see this Bill as another waste of tax payers money to help PETA (People Eating taste Animals) to get there way and to fund some loosers next election.

Originally posted by charles1952
Just out of curiosity, can someone tell me how this bill will aid the consumers of California? I can see how it hurts the egg producers of the other states, but is there some reason to tax California citizens for chicken comfort?

I don't have any info on that. I do not think this is a tax for consumers of California, but they may have to pay higher prices. The farmers will have to pay this cost out of pocket then charge to get it back. I can only imagine some study was done and it was claimed the chickens were being treated poorly.

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See, folks, this story is interesting to me because, well.. I simply LOVE eggs. I can't get enough of them. I eat 3 eggs ( fried over easy is the only way) for breakfast at least 3 times a week. ( heck if you never had a 3 fried over easy egg sandwich on toast you dont know what your missing.. gotta pop all 3 yolks and let the golden goodness run all over your sammy, and hands - YUM) But I'm in Louisiana.. I'm only paying $1.68 a dozen for Jumbo eggs.