- The price of eggs is rising and stock is dwindling in Michigan, with all eggs now required to be cage-free due to a new law that took effect in December.
- Local farmer Ralph Collar has kept his eggs priced at 4 dollars, despite the surge in demand, since the new law didn’t impact his business.
- The ongoing bird flu crisis and inflation are contributing to the rising cost of eggs.
- A proposed bill in the Michigan State Senate could repeal the cage-free egg law, potentially lowering prices by increasing supply options.
- Animal rights advocate Bee Friedlander argues the law isn’t about animal safety but about deregulating farming practices, raising concerns over the living conditions of egg-laying hens.
It’s a topic of conversation when neighbors head to the store: the price of eggs going up and the stock on them going down.
"People have always been willing to pay a premium for healthier food, maybe too much so," a neighbor said.
A price all neighbors are paying, now that all eggs sold in stores around Michigan are cage-free after a law took effect at the end of December.
"I would prefer better eggs, but any egg is better than no egg," a neighbor said.
Adding even more to the cost is an ongoing bird flu crisis and overall inflation.
I wanted to hear from a local farmer about how the new law has impacted business, so I took a trip to Stone Hedge Farms in Mason.
"We are usually open from dawn till dusk, 365 days a year, but we haven’t been able to because we don’t have the eggs," Stone Hedge Farm owner Ralph Collar said.
With limited stock at the grocery store, more and more neighbors have come to shop for Ralph Collar and his family's eggs, causing them to run out faster.
But Collar tells me he kept his eggs at their original price of 4 dollars, even after the surge, because the new law didn’t affect them.
"I think it does appeal to the customers that we haven’t raised our prices." Collar said.
He hasn’t, but others have.
A proposed bill in the state Senate will repeal the requirement that eggs sold in Michigan must be cage-free, in which they say will help lower the cost by supplying more options.
But like so much of this issue, it gets a little scrambled.
"My main concern is the conditions where animals live their lives," President of Attorney for Animals Bee Friedlander said.
Bee Friedlander is the president of Attorney for Animals. She says the new law isn’t about the safety of the animals but the deregulation of farmers.
"If we can deregulate something, the conditions under which these egg-laying hens live are not considered, then why not?" Friedlander asked.
Questions without an easy answer, leaving our neighbors wondering what’s next.
"Life goes on. It’s just one of the things we have to negotiate."
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