U.S. Supreme Court may hear lawsuit over California’s egg law

Dec 05, 2017

Over a dozen states sue California

By Diego Flammini
News Reporter
Farms.com

Representatives from more than a dozen American states have filed a joint lawsuit to the Supreme Court against the State of California’s egg legislation.

Any eggs entering California for sale must come from hens that have enough space to stretch out in their cages. This regulation is consistent with California’s hen-raising requirements.

Those requirements were part of 2008’s Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act and have been in full effect since Jan. 1, 2015, according to the State’s Legislative Analyst’s Office.

But the plaintiffs in the case, which include Missouri, Indiana, Iowa and Nebraska, feel California’s law is harmful.

Forcing producers to comply with out-of-state law causes the price of eggs to increase.

The national price of eggs has increased between 1.8 per cent and 5.1 percent since January 2015, according to a University of Missouri study included in the lawsuit, cited by The Washington Post. California’s egg regulations have cost consumers nearly $350 million annually, the study says.

In addition, some believe the regulations violate the U.S. Constitution.

Within the Constitution is the Commerce Clause, which gives Congress exclusive authority to regulate commerce among and between states.

But if California is setting the agenda for other egg-producing states, then it isn’t abiding by the Constitution, according to Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley, who is spearheading the lawsuit on Missouri’s behalf.

“These regulations are unconstitutional and a clear attempt by big-government proponents to impose job-killing regulations on Missouri,” he said in a statement yesterday. “This discrimination against Missouri farmers will not stand. I will continue to defend our farmers and protect the interests of Missouri consumers.”

Last year, a three-judge panel dismissed a similar attempt by Missouri and other states to overturn California’s egg laws because they lacked evidence to support their argument.

The Supreme Court hasn’t yet indicated whether it will hear the case.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.