Massachusetts lawmakers have agreed to temper a pending regulation that was expected to reduce the state’s supply of shell eggs by as much as 90% while simultaneously putting a crimp in the availability of bacon and other pork products.
Without an 11th-hour compromise, the retail price of eggs was expected to hit $5 a dozen, dragging the wholesale prices paid by restaurants along with it, starting Jan. 1.
The regulation had been put on the books by voters in a 2016 ballot initiative. Drafted as an animal welfare measure, it prohibited the sale within the state of eggs from hens kept in a cage measuring less than 1.5 square feet.
The standard for the egg industry is 1 square foot. Many poultry farmers have aimed for more humane conditions by switching to vertical-style cages—essentially duplexes of stacked 1-square-foot spaces—that provide the birds with more room to move, albeit up and down.
Similarly, expanded space allotments were mandated for pig farmers. There again, opponents said the requirements exceeded what have become industry norms.
Both the House and Senate had drafted legislation that tweaked the requirements, but the respective versions differed. Representatives from both chambers formed a six-person committee to iron out the discrepancies, but negotiations were hampered by disagreement over a proposal covering the new rearing requirements for pigs. Rather than change the space stipulations, some lawmakers suggested the new hog rules be delayed for a year. They were opposed by legislators who did not want to delay a step toward more humane cultivation methods.
Lawmakers agreed on Monday to postpone the hog requirements by 7.5 months instead of 12.
The compromise legislation should be on Gov. Charlie Baker’s desk before Jan. 1. Although the governor warned last week that the state would fall into an inflationary crisis if the provisions of the 2016 initiative weren’t moderated, he has not definitively declared whether he will sign the measure.
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