- Egg producers confused on how to comply with Prop 2.

- HSUS maintains only cage-free housing meets requirements.

- Producer group notes Prop 2 only deals with space, not housing type.

By ROD SMITH

THE Association of California Egg Farmers (ACEF) last week asked the California legislature to set what would be clear hen housing standards in light of the vagueness of Proposition 2, the animal housing mandate California voters passed last year.

The proposition, a ballot initiative, contains language so vague that California egg producers don't know what kind of housing would be in compliance with the law, especially as it pertains to space per hen, ACEF said.

Prop 2 was crafted and carried to the ballot by petition by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), an industrial activist group that advocates vegetarianism.

Prop 2 requires that all farm animals, "for all or the majority of any day," not be confined or tethered in a manner that prevents them from lying down, standing up, turning around or fully extending their limbs without touching another animal or an enclosure such as a cage or stall.

It carries penalties against egg producers and employees of $1,000 and/or a jail sentence of up to six months per violation.

ACEF said it has met with HSUS to work collaboratively to determine space requirements, but HSUS maintains that only cage-free housing would meet Prop 2's standards.

This has added confusion to the matter because Prop 2 does not address cage and cage-free housing, only space, ACEF said, and egg producers seeking to comply with Prop 2 need to know what those space requirements are.

California egg producers will comply with Prop 2 to provide their hens with more space, but "the question is how much space," ACEF executive director Debbie Murdock said. Producers need "clear-cut housing standards to determine how they can comply with the law" and continue to produce fresh, local and affordable eggs in California, she said.

Accordingly, ACEF also said it needs to oppose California Assembly Bill 1437, which would require all eggs imported into the state to be produced under Prop 2 standards (Feedstuffs, March 30) unless it is amended to include specific space requirements.

California egg producers need "clear, legally enforceable standards" because of the substantial investments and time that will be needed to modify enclosures and husbandry practices, Murdock said.

Prop 2 passed with 66% of voter support (Feedstuffs, Nov. 10, 2008). It becomes effective in 2015 and is estimated to affect 95% of California egg production.