|
Prop. 2 unlikely to raise egg prices, study says |
|
November 6, 2008
Californians voted resoundingly to free about 20 million egg-laying
hens of tiny cages. But in passing Proposition 2, the farm animal
welfare measure, did the state's consumers yoke themselves to higher
egg prices?
For months farmers had contended that the measure
would drive up egg prices or even put them out of business because of
the high cost of retrofitting their farms with cage-free facilities.
But the measure's proponents and a respected state agriculture expert
stressed Wednesday that such results were unlikely, especially in the
short term. Proposition 2, approved by a nearly 2-to-1 margin, doesn't
take effect until 2015.
Also, California imports a third of
the shelled eggs it consumes from out-of-state producers, which are not
subject to the new regulations. There would be no reason for a jump in
the price of those eggs, according to a study on the economic effects
of the proposition from the UC Davis Agricultural Issues Center.
Out-of-state producers would also be likely to increase their
production to feed Californians.
"There is no reason to expect
any significant change in the price of any eggs. That applies to eggs
from cage-free hens too," saidDaniel Sumner, the primary author of the UC Davis study.
Click here to read the full story...
|
