Ag Policy Blog

Farm Bureau Files Brief in California Egg Case

Chris Clayton
By  Chris Clayton , DTN Ag Policy Editor
Connect with Chris:

The American Farm Bureau issued a friend-of-the-court brief for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals with Farm Bureau arguing that California's state law regulating the size of egg cages is unconstitutional.

The law, AB1437, requires out-of-state egg producers to confirm they are providing larger gages for chickens than industry standards now require.

Farm Bureau argues the law regulates agricultural production in other states, making it unconstitutional for multiple reasons. Farm Bureau wants the appeals court to reverse a district court ruling that other states did not have standing to sue.

P[L1] D[0x0] M[300x250] OOP[F] ADUNIT[] T[]

Farm Bureau noted its brief is for out-of-state egg producers facing a "no-win choice." The groups stated, "On one hand, they can choose not to comply with the law, thereby opting out of an egg market that accounts of one in every eggs sold in the United States -- 10 billion in total. On the other hand, they can choose to comply with AB1437, which requires incurring the enormous capital costs associated with current cage systems and installing the cage systems required by California law."
In a friend-of-the-court brief filed today in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (State of Missouri, et al. v. Harris, et al.), AFBF urged the court to find that six states have standing to challenge California’s egg law.

A federal district court in California dismissed a lawsuit brought by officials from Missouri, Alabama, Iowa, Kentucky, Nebraska and Oklahoma before a new California law imposed hen cage size restrictions on any shell eggs sold in the state, including those produced out-of-state. California’s legislature had passed a law requiring larger cage standards for out-of-state egg producers after voters had passed a ballot initiative to require larger cages for birds in the state. ]

“It is unfortunate that California’s voters put egg producers in their state at a clear competitive disadvantage, and we sympathize with the California farmers who will bear the brunt of that action,” said AFBF President Bob Stallman. “Freedom from unreasonable restrictions on interstate commerce, however, is a hallmark of our nation and the federalist system of government established in the U.S. Constitution. Without a legitimate health or safety justification, the California Legislature simply does not have the authority to regulate how eggs are produced in other states. A foreign trading partner attempting this kind of trade-barring action would cause an outcry all across the world trade arena.”

The Congressional Research Service estimates compliance costs between $25 and $30 per hen. For a medium-sized farm with 300,000 hens, costs would be between $8 million and $9 million.

“It is more than sufficient to establish … standing to allege that one state has enacted a law that threatens broad-based harm to an entire industry within another state,” according to AFBF’s brief. “The injury to each state’s egg-consuming public assuredly is enough (to warrant the suit against California),” according to AFBF. “The claim is straight-forward: By playing with the levers of the national supply of shell eggs, California’s legislation is likely to drive up the cost of eggs for consumers within the plaintiff states. That is all that is necessary to establish … standing.”

Follow me on Twitter @ChrisClaytonDTN.

P[] D[728x170] M[320x75] OOP[F] ADUNIT[] T[]
P[L2] D[728x90] M[320x50] OOP[F] ADUNIT[] T[]

Comments

To comment, please Log In or Join our Community .

Jay Mcginnis
3/16/2015 | 12:02 PM CDT
I think its more of a "weird ass idea" to torture and abuse farm animals. Ive been in totally cage free egg houses and they do much better. So what if people have to pay extra for their food, the country is already too fat. Farmers need to get away from "cheaper is better" and add quality.
melvin meister
3/13/2015 | 10:41 AM CDT
Cal eggs were Just Great last month in Cal.
Raymond Simpkins
3/12/2015 | 11:37 AM CDT
Can Cal. Produce enough eggs to supply themselves? If so I guess let them pay the high dollar for their eggs.But don't let them tell everyother state how to produce or what laws to enforce.California has alot of wierd ass ideas.