I am “up” on the animal welfare issues facing laying hen farmers across the world. Different jurisdictions are dealing with hen housing in different ways, trying to find a balance between production efficiencies, animal welfare, consumer demands, environmental impact, food safety, and many other concerns. The European Union has been touted as the leader in this regard, leading the way in banning conventional cages as of January 1/ 2012. Animal rights organizations have long been using this as the “gold standard” when they criticized other areas for not moving fast enough on this issue.
Unfortunately for the EU, their policy has had some holes in it. Recent newspaper articles have shown that there is an egg supply crisis in the EU…
“Britain’s supermarket shelves could be empty of key products within a month as an acute shortage of eggs threatens to have serious consequences for the country’s food chain. New EU rules banning the housing of hens in conventional cages are being blamed for what some in the industry are already labelling a “crisis”, as competition among food manufacturers to source eggs sends prices rocketing. The price of eggs on the EU wholesale market has nearly quadrupled over the past week to more than four euros a kilo.” The Guardian, Mar 4/2012
And:
“France is now suffering a shortfall of 21 million eggs a week or 10 per cent of overall production, the National Union of Egg Industries and Professionals said in a statement. As a result, egg prices shot up 75 per cent between October last year and February” Ottawa Citizen, Mar 2/ 2012
The mistake that the EU made was that they tried to be too much to too many people, and they did not enforce a “phase-in” period. (As an aside, I would like to point out that I have the benefit of hindsight and the ability to analyze what other jurisdictions have done since the EU directive was enacted in 1999….I am NOT criticizing the program, or the people who developed it. They were WAY ahead of the curve, and did an excellent job. They weren’t perfect however, and this situation can serve as a cautionary tale for other jurisdictions, like Canada, that are still deciding how to deal with the issue.)
The EU (under pressure from animal rights groups), decided that conventional cages were unacceptable, and legislated them out of existence. They gave a 12 year “accommodation period” for the industry to adapt to the legislation, but didn’t demand a gradual uptake of alternative housing. What happened is that farmers put off the huge investment for as long as they could (remember the unlucky coincidence of the world-wide recession in this period). The legislation also discouraged farmers from investing in furnished cages (again, because any cage system was discouraged by animal rights groups), by categorizing them as “cage” eggs, and not paying a premium for them. This resulted in many farms hesitating to moving to free-run or aviary systems, since they are less efficient and much different to manage.
There are two situations that have resulted….some countries have aggressively adopted the new requirements, and have been importing the eggs that they have not been able to produce locally, since the new systems are somewhat less efficient. Now, however:
“Under the new rules, manufacturers are not now permitted to source their eggs from non-compliant EU countries, 13 of which have yet to introduce the new pens.” The Guardian, Mar 4/2012. Because of this, even compliant countries are short of eggs, especially for commercial markets, such as for bakeries and food production facilities that use liquid or powdered eggs as ingredients.
“Cake and brioche manufacturers [in France] may soon be forced to shut down production and temporarily lay off workers if shortages continue.” Ottawa Citizen, Mar 2/2012. I’m not 100% sure what brioche is, but it sounds yummy, and if it not produced anymore, I expect the world will suffer.
Countries in the EU are still unhappy with the directive….Irish sources state:
“Unfortunately, the cost of complying with the directive and the way in which it was implemented forced an estimated 10% to 15% of our producers out of business. This has resulted in a tightening of egg supplies and a rise in the price of eggs. ” Belfast Telegraph, Mar 10/2012.
They say a fool never learns, a smart man learns from his mistakes, and a wise man learns from other men’s mistakes. If this is true, what can be learned from the EU example?
First, putting together these types of sweeping rules is VERY complicated, the pitfalls are deep and plentiful, and the repercussions are HUGE. So, as frustrating as it is to say, it is necessary to approach this issue slowly and carefully. I have been really frustrated in the pace of change in the industry, but moving forward slowly and correctly is much more effective than moving quickly. Jurisdictions such as the United States have proposed plans that give a phase in period, but have required benchmarks that require a certain amount of the industry to be compliant an interim times. Other jurisdictions, such as Manitoba, have started to pay an incentive for hens housed in furnished cages, as well as loose-housed systems.
I think that improving welfare is important, and it is the right thing to do. All the farmers I work with agree, and want to do the right thing for their birds. The unfortunate thing is that the question is so complicated that it is impossible to know for sure what the right answer is. And the repercussions of moving the wrong way is losing your life’s work. We can do it, and we can do it right. I would like to thank the EU for paving the way with a really good first draft of a welfare program. I can’t wait to be part of the committee that improves on the system of implementation that they developed.
Mike the Chicken Vet
