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Nearly all eggs sold in Michigan starting before the New Year must come from cage-free birds, even as egg prices continue to rise.
Michigan lawmakers amended the Animal Industry Act in 2019, requiring shell eggs from chickens, ducks and other birds sold in the state to come from cage-free housing systems, effective Dec. 31, 2024.
The new law, however, does not apply to the sale of shell eggs produced on a farm with fewer than 3,000 laying hens, nor to liquid or boiled eggs.
But for affected farms, the law prohibits business owners from selling eggs from a laying hen if care cannot be provided while within the hens’ usable space.
EGG PRICES ARE HIGHER AND WILL CONTINUE UNTIL 2025
In the hands of a woman packing eggs in the supermarket (iStock/iStock)
The law also states that chickens must not be confined or tied in a manner that prevents them from lying down, standing, fully extending their limbs, or turning around freely.
Most of the guidelines for cage-free eggs were established in the 2017 United Egg Producers rules, which set standards for the amount of area that must be provided for eggs to qualify as cage-free.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on the new law.
HERE’S WHY SUPERMARKETS ARE REALLY RAISING PRICES
Chickens at Brown’s Farm, which produces sustainable eggs for NestFresh, in Gonzales, Texas, U.S., on Wednesday, May 5, 2021. Farmers are betting they can make more profits from specialty eggs by adding another layer of premiumization: eggs of a kind (Photographer: Mary Kang/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty Images)
The news comes as egg prices continue to rise and industry experts project these higher costs will persist through 2025, especially if highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), also known as “bird flu” infections, continues.
Wells Fargo Agri-Food Institute sector manager Kevin Bergquist said egg prices have increased since 2023 due to a combination of seasonal price increases during the holidays and disruption in egg supplies due to bird flu. .
Prices over the past year have remained “generally” above 2023 prices and even “often exceeded egg prices starting in 2022, which is when HPAI really captured the egg market,” according to Bergquist. .
TRUMP’S PROPOSED TARIFFS COULD RISE FOOD PRICES, EXPERTS SAY
Lots of cage-free eggs at CostCo store, Florida. (Photo by: Lindsey Nicholson/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Wholesale egg prices, which rose nearly 55% in November, do not necessarily reflect consumer egg prices in grocery stores, which can vary widely.
According to the Consumer Price Index, grocery prices rose 0.5% in November, and the cost of four of the six major food groups in grocery stores increased. Eggs showed the largest increase by a wide margin.
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Meat, poultry, fish and egg prices rose 1.7% in November, but egg prices rose 8.2%.
FOX Business’ Daniella Genovese contributed to this report.
