No paltry sum to upgrade
The egg industry is moving away from battery cages. But as Chris Hutching reports, that comes at a cost.
Arise in the price of eggs is the cost of improving life for layer hens, as the industry gears up for a new animal welfare code.
Battery cages will be banned by December 2022 in favour of larger colony cages, or barn and free range rearing.
Upgrading cost was cited by the biggest poultry farm in New Zealand, Mainland Poultry, as a reason for selling a majority shareholding to an Australian private equity firm Navis Equity.
Director and shareholder, Murray Valentine, said the owners were unprepared to make the new investment to colony cages themselves of between $40m to $60m.
But animal welfare group spokesperson Marianne Macdonald of SAFE, said poultry farmers were making a mistake investing in colony cages, which were a marginal improvement on battery cages and were also being phased out in Europe.
Colony cages provide a minimum 750 square centimetres per bird, housing up to 60 birds. They have areas for nesting, perching, and a pad for scratching and pecking.
According to a MAF report, farms would have to finance additional buildings and equipment for colony cages equating to $660,000 for small farms to $8.5m for large farms, or collectively about $150m.
MAF estimates some farmers will quit the industry, causing a decrease in production and consumption of up to 13 per cent and similar price increases.
The findings of research company Qzone posted by the Eggs Producers Federation, found a third of consumers said farming methods affected their purchase choices, a third said other considerations were important, and a third did not care.
There was generally a positive reaction to colony cage farming, but 22 per cent of shoppers had little tolerance for price increases.
SAFE’s Macdonald said recent surveys by Horizon Research found 76 per cent of respondents supported supermarket chain Countdown phasing out all caged eggs by 2025. SAFE is also talking with Foodstuffs.
Michael Brooks, chief executive of the Poultry Industry Association, said state agency National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee had deemed colony cages provided the same welfare as barn and free range production.
‘‘Free range production makes up about 14 per cent of total consumption of 236 eggs per person a year.
‘‘If supermarkets want to phase out colony-produced eggs, supply may be an issue,’’ Brooks said.
Many farmers would have to buy new properties and rebuild from scratch if they went to barn or free range production, he said.