eggs
Supreme Court won’t hear challenge to California animal welfare laws
The Supreme Court announced Monday that it will not hear Missouri's challenge to California's expanded animal welfare laws, ending the legal dispute over the Golden State's rigorous humane animal standards. The decision follows a December recommendation from the Department of Justice that the highest court not hear the case and others like it.
Farm bill axes ‘King amendment’ on egg rules
If it’s not cage-free, California referendum would bar sale of eggs, pork and veal
A decade ago, California voters rattled the U.S. farm sector and set off years of lawsuits by approving a referendum to give egg-laying chickens, sows and veal calves the room to stand up, lie down, turn around and fully extend their limbs. On Nov. 6, the electorate could do it again, this time by specifying how many square feet each animal would get and by banning the sale of meat and eggs from farms that do not comply with the rules.
U.S. judge allows lawsuit against USDA withdrawal of organic livestock rule
The USDA spent a decade writing livestock welfare rules for organic farms before, in a regulatory U-turn, it decided last December that it lacked the power to implement those rules. The decision sparked a lawsuit by the organic community. Now a federal judge in San Francisco has rejected the government’s attempt to quash the suit.
Farm bill debate: Eggs, animal welfare, and the ‘free trade zone’ of America
California’s animal welfare regulations, among the strictest in the nation, have spawned a series of court challenges. This week, those regulations became part of the farm bill debate. <strong>No paywall</strong>
U.S. and South Korea agree to regionalize bird-flu bans
The United States and South Korea, the sixth-largest customer for U.S. farm exports, agreed to limit the trade impact of any outbreaks of deadly avian influenza in the future, announced the USDA.
Video reveals animal abuse at Florida egg farm
An undercover video from the animal welfare group Animal Recovery Mission captured abusive conditions on a Florida egg farm. The farm is owned by Cal-Maine Foods, the country’s largest egg producer.
Lots of eggs mean lower prices for cage-free eggs
A CoBank economist, Trevor Amen, says demand for eggs produced by cage-free hens will remain depressed for several months because a flood of conventionally produced eggs is available, reports Feedstuffs.
Iowa ‘ag gag’ law is challenged as unconstitutional
A coalition of consumer, free speech and animal rights groups filed suit in federal court in Des Moines to challenge the constitutionality of Iowa's "ag gag" law, enacted in 2012. Iowa is the No. 1 state for hog and egg production and the largest target yet by campaigners against state laws that criminalize undercover employment on farms and at packing plants.
Activists seek to make all hens in California cage-free
Animal welfare activists, led by the Humane Society of the United States, have filed papers in California to introduce an initiative that would make all eggs cage-free in the state by 2022.
Supreme Court refuses to review length of sentences for salmonella outbreak
The Supreme Court assured prison time for Austin DeCoster, once believed to be the largest U.S. egg producer, and his son, Peter, by refusing a petition filed by their attorneys for a review of their sentences.
DeCosters lose bid to avoid prison time for food-illness outbreak
The 8th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals refused to reconsider a ruling that gave Jack DeCoster and his son, Peter, three-month prison sentences for the 2010 outbreak of food illness linked to their egg farms, says Food Safety News. At the time, the DeCosters were believed to be the largest egg producers in the country.
Average grocery tab will be 8-percent cheaper this fall, says AFBF survey
When the largest U.S. farm group sent 59 shoppers into supermarkets to check the prices of food for a fall meal, they found the tally, on average, was down by a surprisingly large eight percent from a year ago.
Opponents call farm animal referendum in Massachusetts a food tax
Half-a-dozen farm, retail and agribusiness groups say a voter initiative in Massachusetts on animal welfare will drive up production costs and equate to an indirect food tax. The proposal, which had more than 2-to-1 support in a recent opinion poll, would end the use of sow crates, veal calf stalls and battery cages for egg-laying hens.
Smallest rise in supermarket prices in six years
Americans this year will see the smallest overall rise in supermarket prices since 2010, a barely noticeable 0.5 percent, said the Agriculture Department in lowering its forecast of food-at-home prices for the fifth month in a row. Food prices are forecast by USDA to rise by 1.5 percent at the supermarket next year on the back of higher meat and dairy prices in the new year.
Biggest egg producers promise to stop killing male chicks
Responding to pressure from animal welfare advocates, United Egg Purchasers (UEP) has agreed to stop killing male chicks at hatcheries by 2020, says Vox. New technology will enable the companies to tell the sex of the chick while still in the shell, so that the males can be painlessly disposed of before the eggs hatch. The UEP group represents 95 percent of all eggs raised in the U.S.
Largest U.S. egg-laying flocks since bird flu hit last spring
The egg industry has nearly recovered from last year's devastating bird flu epidemic that killed nearly 50 million turkeys and egg-laying hens.
USDA proposes mandated outdoor access for organic poultry
After years of development, the USDA proposed stronger housing and welfare rules for organic livestock that include group housing for swine and year-round access for poultry to the outdoors.