Farm Animals Win Big in Election

Stefan Lovgren in Los Angeles
for National Geographic News

November 7, 2008

The party of the donkey may have prevailed on Tuesday, but the real animal victors may have been the farm animals of California.

Close to two-thirds of the state's population voted in favor of a proposition requiring that laying hens, pregnant pigs, and calves raised for veal be kept in larger enclosures.

The increased space must be enough to allow the animals to turn around freely, lie down, stand up, and fully extend their limbs, according to the law.

Farmers will have until January 1, 2015, to phase out so-called battery cages—small wire cages often stacked in rows—for chickens and tight crates used to house pigs and veal calves.

"This is the most sweeping animal-protection measure ever passed by ballot initiative in U.S. history," said Jennifer Fearing, chief economist for the Humane Society of the United States in Sacramento, California. The society was the main backer of the initiative.

Opponents said the measure vilified the large majority of farmers and ranchers who treat their animals humanely.

Some industrial farmers also warned that the new regulations will lead to skyrocketing costs that could cripple California's thriving egg industry.

"This will put me out of business," said Ryan Armstrong, president of family-owned Armstrong Egg Farms in San Diego.

Tightly Packed

Florida, Arizona, Colorado, and Oregon have passed similar laws for swine and veal, but California will be the first state to mandate that all egg-producing chickens have more space to roam.

(Related: "Mail-Order Chickens: USPS Ships Live Birds by the Thousands" [May 25, 2006].)

The main focus was on California's U.S. $337-million egg industry, which produces about 6 percent of the nation's table eggs. (Watch a video of the world's 'biggest' chicken egg.)

More than 90 percent of California's 20 million egg-laying hens are kept in battery cages.

Animal rights activists say the cages, which hold anywhere from three to ten hens, are often so small that birds rub off their feathers while pressed against the wires.

And on some farms, cages are stacked on top of each other, forcing hens in bottom cages to live in waste, according to the activists.

"Egg-laying hens are packed so tightly that they're given less space than the size of a sheet [of paper] to live their lives," said Gene Baur, president of Farm Sanctuary, a New York-based rescue organization for farm animals that backed the California measure.

Armstrong, the egg farmer, acknowledges that there may be a few "bad farmers" who mistreat their animals. But he said the overwhelming majority of egg producers provide a safe and healthy environment for their hens.

"The truth is that farming is dirty. It's not a pretty business," he said.

"We treat our hens as humanely as possible. But these are animals that are raised for food, not as pets."

(Learn what to ask your local farmer, according to the Green Guide.)

Rebuilding

Much of the debate has focused on how much it will cost to change practices, and each side has offered different takes on the measure's economic impact.

Opponents say that California egg producers will not be able to compete with out-of-state farmers who have no similar bans on battery cages.

One study from University of California, Davis, predicted that the measure could essentially wipe out California's egg industry, leading to the loss of 5,750 jobs.

Armstrong, whose company houses 600,000 chickens in cages and keeps another 60,000 out of cages, said the new regulations will cost him U.S. $30 per chicken to implement, a total of U.S. $18 million.

"We would have to tear down our barns and rebuild them from scratch," he said.

Proponents say the economic fears are exaggerated, citing one study that puts the increased cost at less than one cent per egg.

"Some of these crazy calculations are based on the idea that hens all have to stretch their wings at the same time" in the new housing systems, which is not what the regulations say, said Baur of Farm Sanctuary.

"What I believe producers will do is go to an aviary system, and purchase nest boxes where the birds will be allowed to fly a little bit and be able to move around to give them a more natural life."

Proponents also point to studies showing that the risk of diseases such as salmonella decreases in uncaged birds.