Local small farmers glad to see Prop. 2 pass

By Lisa Grossman and Stephanie Pappas

Santa Cruz Sentinel - California

Article Launched: 11/17/2008 04:23:00 PM PST

SANTA CRUZ - Santa Cruz voters resoundingly passed Proposition 2 on Election Day, but real change for chickens may depend on shoppers voting with their pocketbooks.

"Right now, consumers (already) have the choice to buy regular eggs or cage-free eggs or free-range eggs," said United Egg Producers spokesman Mitch Head, whose group opposed the proposition. "Despite that free choice, 95 percent of consumers [nationwide] buy regular eggs."

That means, Head said, many large-scale egg operations may simply leave the state rather than change their ways since most consumers are still buying the less expensive, regular eggs.

Proposition 2, which passed with 63 percent of the statewide vote and garnered support from more than 73 percent of county voters, established new standards for confining farm animals. It requires that calves, egg-laying hens and pregnant pigs be provided enough room to lie down, stand up, extend their limbs and turn around freely. Because of California's large egg industry, the measure mostly will affect hens.

Opponents warned that the measure may have unintended consequences, chiefly increasing risk of disease, raising egg prices and driving large egg producers out of California.

"Over the next five to six years, I expect almost all of the California egg industry to close or move," said Daniel Sumner, director of the University of California Agricultural Issues Center at UC Davis and lead author of a university-funded economic impact study of Proposition 2. "It makes no sense to invest large sums on new housing ... here to compete in the tiny cage-free market, while eggs from other states are so much cheaper."

With more than six years until Proposition 2 becomes law in January 2015, neither egg producers nor local grocers know what to expect. But some small-scale Santa Cruz farmers say Proposition 2 will do "nothing but good" for their businesses.

"It did a good job increasing consumer awareness, which will only help us," said Rebecca Thistlethwaite of TLC Ranch near Watsonville. Like several small egg farms in Santa Cruz County, TLC Ranch already goes "beyond free-range." Their chickens are pasture-raised, which means they spend most of their time outside.

Despite concerns that cage-free chickens may transmit salmonella and bird flu, local farmers say their practices are safe.

Rich Everett of Everett Family Farms in Soquel said his chickens lay eggs in nesting boxes in a coop 2 to 8 feet off the ground, which keeps the eggs away from manure and safe from contamination with salmonella and other diseases.

Cheryl Potter of Black Hen Farm in Santa Cruz County said she follows recommendations from the United Kingdom's Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs to protect her free-range chickens against bird flu.

"It's not hard to find the recommendations online for protecting flocks from bird flu," she said, though she wonders why the U.S. doesn't have similar resources for backyard farmers.

The measures come at a price, though. All three farms' eggs sell for around $6 a dozen at area farmers markets. Eggs from a large commerical producer start at $2 or so a dozen.

santacruzsentinel.com