Will Colorado's cage-free egg law increase egg prices in the new year?
With the new year comes a new law in Colorado requiring all eggs sold in the state to come from a cage-free facility. This change has been in the works for the last couple of years.
Today, a carton of a dozen eggs in Colorado costs around $4. Three years ago, the national average was $1.79. Cage-free requirements can increase the cost of eggs, but that impact has probably already hit Coloradans' wallets. The real culprit behind the high egg prices is a nationwide egg shortage.
In grocery stores across the country, it's become a familiar sight: empty shelves and high prices for eggs.
"A couple of weeks ago, there weren't any eggs on the shelf at all," said Whole Foods shopper Christina Panczyk. "I bought them the other day. I think they were around $4 for a dozen."
This is due largely to the ongoing impact of a nationwide bird flu outbreak.
"The supply of eggs aren't here because we don't have the hens," said Bill Scebbi, executive director of the Colorado Egg Producers.
Scebbi says Colorado farms have lost about 7 million hens to bird flu.
"Flu doesn't stop flu, just like we all experienced with COVID. It takes a new form. It takes a new life. And our farms work diligently at biosecurity," Scebbi said. "Cleaning up the farm and getting inspected through the USDA and other requirements after an avian influenza incident does not happen overnight."
While Colorado farmers are slowly rebuilding their flocks, major losses elsewhere in the nation still affect the supply.
"You need to have a supply of hens. And so avian flu has devastated our industry. It truly has devastated our industry," Scebbi said.
Coupled with inflation and the state's new cage-free rules, it has created the perfect storm for egg producers.
"The cost involved with cage-free, they are higher. It's about 15 to 17% higher when you consider labor because it's more labor-intensive," Scebbi said.
The law -- passed in 2020 -- required farmers to provide each hen with one square foot of space by 2023. By Jan. 1, 2025, farms must be fully cage-free, allowing hens to roam unrestricted and exhibit natural behaviors. The enclosure requirements do not apply to farming operations with 3,000 or fewer egg-laying hens.
Also by Jan. 1, Colorado retailers can only sell cage-free eggs. The Colorado Department of Agriculture says all Colorado farms are already in full compliance, and retailers have had years to prepare. Since farms are already operating this way, Scebbi says the impacts to egg prices from the cage-free shift are already in place.
"They've been working on it since 2020/2021. 2022 it started. 2023 we had to be compliant. 2024 we're ready to go," Scebbi said.
"I think they have gone up. And also, I've noticed sometimes there aren't any eggs on the shelves," Panczyk said.
So if you see high egg prices and empty shelves, it's more likely the shortage is to blame than the cage-free law.
Colorado flocks are repopulating and egg producers are on the rebound. Scebbi estimates they'll be back to about 50% or 60% production capacity by the end of March 2025. That should help with the shortage locally, but the cost of eggs will likely remain high until the nationwide shortage is under control.
