(The Center Square) – Starting Tuesday, all eggs sold in Michigan must be cage-free.
This legislation, which was first passed in 2019, will likely lead to an increased cost for consumers. Though going into effect under Democrats, the legislation was pushed by Republicans.
The only exception to the rule is for eggs from farms with less than 3,000 egg-laying hens, and it does not apply to liquid or cooked egg products.
Public Act 132 “places responsibility on any business owner who sells shell eggs to ensure the eggs meet the state requirements.”
Farms must now follow the guidelines laid out by the Animal Industry Act requiring that “hens must be free to roam unrestricted.”
Over the last few months, businesses like Kroger and Meijer have had notices posted warning consumers of the coming transition.
Eggs and egg production makes up a significant portion of the state’s agricultural economy.
Michigan ranks seventh in the nation in the production of eggs, with over five billion eggs produced in the state every year. Fifteen million of the birds owned in the state are owned by just eight farm owners on 17 different farms.
This is all according to a 2024 report from the Michigan Allied Poultry Industries.
All together, the production of eggs contributes $655 million to the state’s economy annually, while the industry has a total economic impact of $1.4 billion.
While the new legislation pushed stores to implement the new policy, stores like Meijer had already announced plans to move towards only selling cage-free eggs by 2025.
Yet, a 2023 report conducted by researchers at Michigan State, Kansas State and Purdue universities highlighted some of the difficulties of the transition to cage-free eggs.
It points to “higher costs and labor requirements associated with cage-free production” and concerns that the transition will lead to a consolidation of farms “given that larger producers often have better resources and access to capital” to make the switch.
In addition, it found that “producers anticipate revenue from cage-free systems to be 8% higher than conventional systems” while “costs are estimated to be at least 8-19% higher.”
The price of eggs, averaging $4.82, will also be impacted by recent outbreaks of bird flu, which have affected some Michigan farms. Currently, the USDA reports that there are two commercial flocks affected in the state and nearly 200,000 birds.
