September 6, 2022

 

Farmers in Western Australia concerned as demand for free-range eggs outstrip supply

 

 

Farmers in West Australia (WA) are worried that once caged eggs are phased out, they won't be able to supply consumers with enough free-range eggs, ABC News reported.

 

The announcement that Australia will phase out traditional layer hen cages by 2036 came as WA was experiencing an egg shortage.

 

The 18,000 free-range hens owned by Colin Ford of Albany Fresh Farm Eggs have a laying rate of about 90%, which is comparable to the output of caged eggs.

 

However, Ford said that wouldn't be sufficient for manufacturers.

 

In terms of the manufacturing sector for eggs, he said the industry will have to do a lot of introspection to see where they're going to get the bulk of their production from.

 

Ian Wilson, the president of the Commercial Egg Producers Association of Western Australia and a free-range farmer near Fremantle, said he did not see any advantages to the phase-out of caged eggs.

 

Wilson said by eliminating the cages, more eggs for the public will no longer be available.

 

Currently, about 36% of the eggs produced in WA are caged.

 

In contrast to the industry standard of 10,000 hens per hectare, Ford's operation has 2,000 hens per hectare.

 

He said that additional expenses were incurred for the premium product to produce eggs the way he did.

 

-      ABC News