Producers in Iowa, the No 1 egg state, “say they are looking to house more of their hens in cage-free barns to meet growing demand from big buyers like McDonald’s,” says the Omaha (Neb) World-Herald. Rembrandt Farms, based in Spirit Lake and one of the largest producers of processed egg products, will shift to an all cage-free model. “The company isn’t setting a timeline for the change-over but said cage-free production will become its new standard. The company now houses about 15 percent of its hens in cage-free barns, compared with the industry’s 6.4 percent,” said the World-Herald.
There are no official figures on production practices on egg farms so it was unclear how many cage-free hens there are in Iowa or Nebraska, said the World-Herald. “Indiana-based Rose Acre Farms, with 25 million hens, including some in Iowa, has said it will build only cage-free barns from now on. And Sparboe Farms, a family-owned Minnesota-based egg producer with the majority of its 8 million hens in Iowa, is increasing its cage-free hen population as the company expands.”