Effective January 1st 2024, only Proposition#12 compliant pork can be sold in California. This reality follows prolonged litigation all the way to the Supreme Court, opposing the restrictions on products derived from sows held in gestation crates.
Requirements under Proposition#12 relating to calves and laying hens were resolved years ago with the egg-industry making necessary investment in modifying cage housing and erecting new buildings and complexes compliant with California regulations.
Satisfying the requirements for Proposition#2 in 2008 and the subsequent Proposition#12 have increased the cost of eggs to consumers in California. This is based on higher fixed and variable production costs and also westward transport from producing states in the Midwest, Arizonia and Utah.
Currently there is a wide differential in both wholesale and retail prices between Midwest and California attributed to the loss of more than 4.5 million hens in the state this past quarter as a result of HPAI.