PoultryInternational: New Zealand's revised battery cage phaseout makes egg industry transition feasible

26-02-2014

New Zealand's egg producers advised to make
transition happen
 
MARK CLEMENTS

New Zealand's egg farmers started 2014 with a victory 
of sorts, having won a more favorable phaseout period 
for battery cage egg production. New Zealand, like 
the European Union before it, has decided to ban the 
use of conventional cages. While the egg industry has 
been broadly in favor of the change, the timetable for 
implementation had been described as "brutal."
New Zealand's Draft Code for Animal Welfare - Layer 
Hens was released by the country's then Ministry of 
Agriculture and Forestry in February 2011, and among its 
key recommendations was the gradual phasing out of 
conventional cages by 2022.
This proposal to move away from conventional cages 
was consistent with the New Zealand egg industry's own 
direction. However, on release of the draft, the industry 
was at pains to point out that any change could not 
occur overnight, in part due to the investment needed, 
but also to prevent interruption to the egg supply.
 
Views considered?
By late 2012, the Code of Animal Welfare (Layer 
Hens) had been released by the Ministry for Primary 
Industries (MPI).
Michael Guthrie, chairman of the Egg Producers 
Federation (EPF), commented: "Our argument is not 
with the code per se, but the extremely short phaseout 
period for cages impacted by the code. The proposed 
phaseout period, which we assess in practical terms to 
be more like four to six years, and not the 10 suggested 
by the Ministry for Primary Industries, is impossible to 
achieve in practical and financial terms. This will have an 
enormous, possibly even crippling impact on many in 
the industry."
As initially released, the code envisaged the phasing 
out of battery cages by 2022, and the adoption of 
minimum standards and best practices for layer hens. 
From December 7, 2012, battery cages would no longer 
be allowed to be installed, only colony cages would 
be permitted, and existing battery cages would be 
progressively removed over a 10-year period.
The code envisioned that cages installed before 
December 31, 1999, would have 
to be replaced by December 31, 2016, while cages installed
before December 2001 would need to be replaced by
December 31, 2018. Cages installed before December 31,
2003 would need to be replaced by December 31, 2020.
There are around 126 egg farms in New Zealand housing
3.3 million hens, and producing approximately 1 billion eggs
annually. Approximately 83 percent of New Zealand's eggs
are from conventional cages, and come from approximately
47 producers. About 3 percent of eggs are produced in
barns and approximately 14 are produced in barns with
access to the outdoors. Most eggs produced are for the
domestic market, although there is a small export industry.
The New Zealand egg industry has not stood still
regarding concerns over conventional cages, and some
years back contributed funding to a model colony shed with
45,000 birds near Dunedin to test the system under New
Zealand conditions.
The NZ$1 million (US$827,750) project has seen the
colony system subjected to rigorous investigations by
the country's industry and the Ministry of Agriculture in
association with the UK's Bristol University. The National
Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (NAWAC), an
independent advisory committee set up to provide advice
to the MPI, has judged the colony system welfare acceptable.
 
Glimmer of hope
In light of concerns raised by egg producers, NAWAC
announced in March last year that it had commissioned an
independent assessment of the practicability and feasibility
of its transition. The report's findings would be used to make
recommendations to the MPI, and in June 2013, the findings
were published.
The author noted that the provisions would require the
replacement of all existing cages, the construction of new 
sheds as existing sheds would not hold as many birds, and in
some cases the building of new farms to accommodate the
increased space requirements. A survey found that some 30
percent of the current flock would remain in the same sheds,
24 percent in new sheds on the same land, and 24 percent
would require new farms.
A downturn in production over the transition period due
to shed conversion was estimated at 2 percent of national
production over the transition period. The longer and more
even across time the conversion process occurred, the less
the impact of the hiatus on production, the report stated.
In the view of the report's author, there was a high risk
of significant disruption to the marketplace associated with
the early parts of the code of welfare transition pathway. In
order to address this problem, alternate transition pathways
needed to be considered.
Regarding the pathway to change, the report's
recommendations were taken on board on advice of
NAWAC and, in December 2013, Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy announced amendments to the Code of
Welfare.
While the final date for all layer hens to be out of battery
cages has remained the same, the transition dates have
been changed by two years. Now, cages installed before
December 31, 1999 must now be replaced by December 31,
2018, while those installed before December 2001 must now
be replaced by December 31, 2020.
"An independent review found that a significant
disruption to New Zealand's egg supply and the price of
eggs would be almost inevitable with the original transition
dates," Guy said. "Amending the dates will give farmers the
time they need to get resource consents and build new
sheds. This will minimize the risk of disruption to the egg
supply and price hikes."
The industry will be required to publicly report each
year on key milestones in the phaseout. Reports will include
the number of egg farms still using battery cages, and the
total size of the battery cage flock. For those farms still using
battery cages, additional information will be provided on
how many have secured finance for the transition, lodged
resource consent applications, had consents approved, built
new or altered existing sheds, and installed new equipment.
 
Some relief
The EPF notes that it has accepted the minister's decision.
"We made it quite clear to the minister and NAWAC
that the four-year deadline for older cages was a physical
impossibility and the effect would be to either drive many
farmers out of business or force them to break the law. The
change is simply making the impossible possible," Michael
Guthrie, chairman of the EPF, said. "This small adjustment,
which involves moving the four-year deadline to six years
and the six-year deadline to eight years, makes the transition
bearable, though it has to be said that this remains by far
the fastest transition period imposed on an egg industry
anywhere in the world."
Many of New Zealand's egg farmers are expected to
convert to colony farming, which has been endorsed by
NAWAC as welfare acceptable, but others may convert to
free range or barn farming. Many could leave the industry
altogether, the association notes.
"Our advice to farmers now is to knuckle down and
make the transition as prescribed," Guthrie says. "For most
cage farmers who produce by far the largest number of
eggs in the industry, this transition involves the complete
remodeling of their farms and substantial
investment in new equipment. This is not for
the fainthearted and unfortunately there will be
casualties."
 
Not everybody happy
Despite a degree of consensus between
the association and the government, not
everybody is happy. When the code's first proposals
were published, the Royal New Zealand Society for
the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RNZSPCA) found
them unacceptable.
"A cage is a cage is a cage," the society said. In its
submission to NAWAC's review it stated that a caged
management system could in no way be considered
humane - regardless of the enrichments. For the
industry to spend millions converting to a system that
consumers will reject seemed pointless, it said.
"New Zealand's consumers will vote with their
wallets as we have seen in Europe, and there will be
a diminishing market for caged-bird eggs. Farmers
who have invested in expensive colony cages will be
left selling an inferior product in a market demanding
better and better welfare," said then RNZSPCA national
chief executive Robyn Kippenberger.

 
 
 

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