California’s cage-free chicken regulation in the midst of a bird flu pandemic has driven the cost of a dozen eggs above $10 in the state - far above the cost in other areas of the U.S. - the USDA reports.
A USDA press release published Wednesday on efforts to combat high prices nationwide describes the inflationary impact of California’s “recent regulatory burdens” on the cost of eggs in the state:
“USDA will educate consumers and Congress on the need to fix the problem of geographical price differences for eggs, such as in California, where recent regulatory burdens, in addition to avian flu, have resulted in the price of eggs being 60% higher than other regions of the country.”
California’s Proposition 12, which went into effect in 2022, requires that all eggs sold in the state come from cage-free hens, including eggs imported from other states.
Egg prices in the state spiked dramatically over the next year, and cost consumers $23 million annually, Food Dive reported in February of 2023, noting Californians lost access to eggs from about two-thirds of the nation’s egg-laying flocks:
“After California’s law, known as Proposition 12, took effect, egg prices in that state increased dramatically. Californians paid $5.62 for a dozen eggs in early February, compared to $3.05 for non-cage free eggs in the Midwest, according to The Wall Street Journal.
“Research published in the American Journal of Agricultural Economics projected the law will result in an annual loss of $23 million for consumers in the state.
“Currently cage-free eggs make up 34.6% of the total egg-laying flocks in the U.S., according to WATT Poultry.”
Even today, “only about 121 million of the 304 million chickens laying eggs nationwide are raised on cage-free farms,” the Associated Press reports.
“The price spread on feature between 12-packs of Large caged eggs and UEP cage-free eggs is $4.00, much wider than the last time both types were seen in features,” the USDA reported on Friday.
The price of eggs in California has more than tripled since the Prop 12 egg regulation went into effect, the San Diego Union Tribune reported this week:
“The price for California-compliant eggs, those that meet the state’s requirement for cage-free production, has increased rapidly, hitting $9.32 per dozen in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s latest weekly report Friday. That’s nearly double the $4.41 per dozen jumbo eggs listed in the same report one year ago and more than three times higher than the $2.65 listed in 2022.”
According to USDA’s latest report, the price for large and extra-large eggs topped $10 a dozen for the previous week.
Nationwide, seven states (California, Massachusetts, Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Michigan and Colorado) have cage-free egg requirements, while three others (Arizona, Rhode Island and Utah) have passed cage-free laws that haven’t yet taken effect.
In Nevada, however, Republican Governor Joe Lombardo signed a law on February 13 suspending the cage-free egg requirement in his state for 120 days, in an effort to ease egg prices. It’s expected to take about a month for the suspension to influence retail costs.