WASHINGTON, June 1, 2016 - Egg producers are winning support
on both sides of the aisle in their fight against the Agriculture Department’s proposal
to require hens on organic farms to roam outside their barns. Large-scale
producers say the rule, which is supported by the Organic Trade Association,
would force major egg operations out of the organic market.
The senior Democrat on the Senate Agriculture Committee,
Debbie Stabenow, says she has personally raised the producers’ concerns with
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. And last week, she joined committee chairman
Pat Roberts, R-Kan., in sending a strongly worded letter
to the department, urging it to extend the comment period on the proposed rule
by 90 days. House Agriculture Chairman Mike Conaway, R-Texas, and ranking
member Collin Peterson, D-Minn., also signed the letter.
The letter cites multiple concerns with the rule, including “reduced
access to organic products, substantially increased organic food costs for
consumers” and significant disruption to the organic feed sector. USDA
officials say they expect to decide on whether or not to extend the comment
period in the next week.
Stabenow represents the state of Michigan, home to one of
the largest organic operations in the country, Herbruck’s
Poultry Ranch, which has 2 million organic hens. There are an
estimated 15 million organic hens nationwide.
“I have a real concern about the space requirements,” Stabenow
told Agri-Pulse. “I’m really hoping there will be more flexibility given. I do
think it’s an area of great concern. The Herbrucks do a great job.”
The rule also would strengthen standards for cattle and
other livestock, but the biggest impact is expected to be on poultry. Large
organic producers typically comply with the current requirements for outdoor
access by allowing hens to go out on covered, screened porches that protect
them from predators or contact with wild birds, which spread avian influenza.
The enclosed porches also make it easier, producers say, to
comply with the Food and Drug Administration’s egg safety regulations, which
require farms to guard against rodents, which can infect flocks with
salmonella. The rule would require farms to have two feet of outdoor area for
every bird, and 50 percent of that would have to be soil.
Greg Herbruck, one of three brothers who manage the
fourth-generation operation, says he spent $125 million setting up the organic
operation, which includes a feed mill and processing operation. The rule would
require the farm to have 100 acres of pasture for the hens, but the entire site
is only 80 acres in size, he told Agri-Pulse.
“It wasn’t required of us to have that much space and we
didn’t,” he said. “Several of my peers have the same problem.”
He said the farm’s sales have exploded, growing 35 percent
so far this year alone. “We’re one of the success stories, or so it would seem
in this program, and they want to slam the breaks on farms like ours being able
to participate,” he said.
USDA itself estimates that the number of organic layers
could be reduced by 43 percent nationwide because of the requirement. The
department says that 90 percent of organic farms with aviary systems could drop
out of the market and instead sell their eggs onto the cage-free, non-organic
market. Aviaries are mechanized structures that provide nesting areas for the
hens and supply them with feed and water and remove manure.
Producers say the cage-free, non-organic market would be
flooded with eggs.
“With the stroke of a pen, USDA is proposing to ban
previously-approved production systems and basically stipulate that only
pasture-based systems are organic,” Ron Truex, chairman of the United Egg
Producers, told
the Senate Agriculture Committee last week. “This proposal would drive a
majority of current organic production out of business. As a consequence,
consumer supplies of organic eggs would be restricted, consumer prices would
rise, and growth in organic egg demand would be sacrificed on the altar of
ideological purity.”
He said that FDA officials told UEP that they didn’t know
about the proposal until it was issued, even though the agency regulates egg
safety and has specific requirements to prevent the spread of Salmonella
Enteritidis, a dangerous strain blamed for a 2010 outbreak that sickened
thousands of people and was linked to an Iowa operation. FDA officials told
producers they would communicate any concerns they have about the organic rule
to USDA, privately.
However, a spokesperson for USDA’s Agricultural Marketing
Service told Agri-Pulse that, "AMS consulted with FDA in the development
of the proposed organic livestock and poultry practices rulemaking and continues
to work with FDA as part of the regulatory process."
According to USDA data, the total U.S. cage-free flock is
about 23.6 million hens, or 8.6 percent of the total U.S. flock. Organic hens
make up 4.2 percent of the total flock and other classifications of cage-free
comprise 4.5 percent. However, many conventionally produced eggs are sold to
companies after processing, so the differences can be seen in grocery store
aisles for shell egg prices. Last week, a
12-pack of USDA AA large white eggs averaged $1.21, less than half of the $3.02
commanded for a dozen cage-free brown eggs, which still comes in under the
$4.01 asking price for an organic dozen.
Organic and cage-free shell egg sales combined to make up
42.8 percent of last week’s sales, and Herbruck is worried that moving organic
eggs to the cage-free market because of changes to the rule would flood the
cage-free market.
“They say you can go do cage-free,” he said of USDA
estimates that 90 percent of aviaries would leave the organic market. “We don’t
have a cage-free market for those eggs. … We’re going to glut that market.”
Many food retailers have announced intentions to phase in
the use of cage-free eggs, but that may not happen for several years.
The comment period on USDA’s proposal expires June 13, so
extending it another three months as the lawmakers have requested would leave
USDA even harder pressed to finalize the rule before President Obama leaves
office in January.
The Senate and House appropriations committees also are
keeping an eye on the department. Both the House and Senate versions of the
fiscal 2017 appropriations bill for USDA and FDA include report language urging
the department to pay attention to comments on the rule.
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