Major change coming to pantry staple

Caged eggs will be phased out by 2036 following a meeting of Australia’s agriculture ministers, but individual states and territories will set their own time frames.

The nation’s ministers met in Perth on Thursday to adopt new guidelines for poultry and animal welfare standards following an “extensive” industry and public consultation process.

Federal Agriculture Minister Murray Watt said the new standards would still allow for the use of cages, but egg producers would need to provide additional space and enrichment for chickens.

“These standards will allow for the continued use of cages in poultry farming and egg farming, but they won’t be the kind of cages that we’re all used to seeing on TV,” he said.

“The market is moving and government is catching up.”

Mr Watt said only 30 per cent of eggs in supermarkets were produced using conventional cages.

Supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths have already announced plans to end the sale of caged eggs by 2025.

Egg Farmers of Australia chief executive Melinda Hashimoto said there was a “mixed response” from the industry, with cage farmers in limbo over the uncertainty.

“Essentially at the meeting the minister’s decided they would send the standards back to the states to look at the phase-out time,” she said.

“We need cage, barn and free-range eggs in Australia to meet demand, and so we want to make sure people have choice but also farmers have security.”

She said the industry would be calling for compensation if states set time frames sooner than 2046 as it could cause “great financial difficulty” for cage farmers.

Ms Hashimoto said cage eggs were the cheapest option for consumers and any early phase-out would lead to price increases.

Mr Watt said modelling showed the move away from caged eggs would add $1.51 a year to the budget of the average egg consumer.

“We’re not talking about $15 boxes of eggs, those figures have no credibility and the politicians who are out there sprouting them are just trying to scare people,” he said.