About 17 per cent of egg production in the United States is coming from cage-free operations now, but it’s going to cost about $7 billion to convert the rest, said Chistrine McCracken of Rabobank,
The U.S. egg industry involves more than 300 million hens and converting to housing without cages is a gargantuan task.
In Ontario, Harry Pelissero, general manager of the Egg Farmers of Ontario marketing board, is betting that the critics will be satisfied with a transition to “enhanced cages,” but that’s not what the most strident activist organizations, such as the Humane Society of the United States.It leaves Ontario egg producers with expensive and risky decisions about their future.
