Eggs-asperated: Justice Dept. battles states over cage-free laws

The Trump administration, under pressure to lower food costs, is suing states that require eggs sold in grocery stores to come from cage-free hens.

The price of eggs, which had skyrocketed by the end of the Biden administration, has dropped significantly since Mr. Trump took office. Still, his administration is determined to quash regulations it says are contributing to higher egg prices as it tackles affordability, a key voter issue.

In Michigan and more than a dozen other states, laws ban or limit the use of cages to house egg-laying hens. Justice Department lawsuits say this “has raised prices for American consumers.”

Michigan is the second state the Justice Department has targeted over egg production regulations since Mr. Trump took office. The lawsuit was filed in January.

“The State of Michigan’s bureaucratic red tape and imposition of unnecessary regulations in the egg market have led to higher prices for American families,” Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate told The Washington Times. “This Department of Justice will work to free consumers from this regulatory burden and increase economic prosperity for Americans.”

In July, the department filed a lawsuit challenging a California law enacted by referendum in 2018 that, like Michigan’s law, mandates that eggs sold in the state come from cage-free farms.

Justice Department attorneys charged the states with driving up national egg prices by imposing “costly requirements on farmers” that prohibit them from using “commonly accepted agricultural methods that keep eggs affordable.”

Market demand for humanely raised farm animals has increased, and consumers have indicated that they are willing to pay more for ethically produced products.

Battery cages, typically used for egg-laying hens, are small, wire enclosures that limit each hen to about 67 square inches of space.

Market demand for eggs from cage-free hens has increased as more states enact regulations that restrict cage use and require that shelled eggs sold in grocery stores come from cage-free hens.

United Egg Producers, which represents the interests of regional egg producers, reported that nearly 39% of all egg-laying hens in the U.S. are housed cage-free, up from 12% in 2016.

In addition to Michigan and California, states that have banned the sale of shelled eggs from caged hens include Nevada, Washington, Oregon, Massachusetts and Arizona.

Several other states have implemented restrictions on the use of battery cages for farm animals but have not prohibited sales outright. In 2008, Florida became the first state to enact a gestation crate ban, prohibiting farms from confining pigs in spaces that prevent them from turning around freely.

Animal welfare activists have pushed much of the shift away from cages for hens and other farm animals, claiming the public is demanding it.

They report on the site cagefreelaws.com that “consumers are the driving force behind these laws.”

In California, 63% of voters backed a 2018 referendum that mandated the sale of only cage-free eggs. Three-quarters of Massachusetts voters approved a similar measure in 2016, banning the sale of eggs from caged hens.

The left-of-center public opinion research group Data for Progress found in a 2022 poll that 80% of 1,350 likely voters consider preventing cruelty to farm animals “a matter of moral concern.”

Raising farm animals in less confined environments costs more, food producers and agriculture experts say.

Cage-free facilities for egg-laying hens require nearly double the capital investment, more workers, specialized labor and more feed than caged systems, Michigan State University researchers found in 2021.

Cage-free farms allow hens to roam in an open area or facility, allowing them to more easily spread their wings and “exhibit natural behavior,” MSU researchers said.

The researchers warned that Michigan’s cage-free law could drive up egg prices, which are already affected by an ongoing avian flu outbreak.

The state’s egg prices have been relatively low since the law took effect in January 2025.

On Thursday, a dozen eggs were available for $1.99 at Meijer grocery stores in Michigan.

That was lower than the price of a conventional dozen eggs in many other states without cage-free laws, including Florida, where a dozen eggs were sold at Publix for $2.99.

Michigan’s cage-free prices are slightly higher than the $1.37 per dozen reported Jan. 23 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for conventional eggs.

Cage-free does not necessarily mean that wide-open spaces are provided for hens.

In Nevada, for example, a cage-free law implemented this year requires egg producers to provide 1 square foot of space per hen to roam. The Michigan law requires that each hen have a square foot of space plus access to nest boxes, scratch areas and perches.

Michigan is the nation’s seventh-largest egg producer. Industry representatives say that if the Trump administration is successful in blocking the cage-free law, then the state’s egg farmers will have to compete in Michigan with companies allowed to produce eggs without cage-free requirements and at a lower cost.

Michigan’s egg producers have invested more than $100 million collectively in converting production from caged to cage-free egg production.

“Cage-free eggs will still be on the shelves. We will still be producing cage-free eggs, but we will lose a big share of the market,” Nancy Barr, executive director of Michigan Allied Poultry Industries, told The Times.

For the Trump administration, the lawsuits are part of efforts to reduce consumer costs, which have become a top voter issue ahead of the midterm elections in November.

Although egg prices are way down from one year ago, when they reached a record high of nearly $5 per dozen, the USDA expects them to rise this year because of avian flu outbreaks and higher production costs.

Beef, sugar, coffee and dairy products are also projected to cost more this year, according to the USDA.

In its lawsuit against California’s cage-free mandate, the Justice Department said the law cut egg production in the state by 35% and raised the average price of a dozen eggs by 20%.

A dozen eggs from cage-free hens cost $3.99 at Safeway in Alameda, California, on Thursday.

The cage-free requirements, Justice Department attorneys said, “were driven by activists’ conception of what qualifies as ‘cruel’ animal housing, not by consumer purchasing decisions or scientifically based food safety or animal welfare standards.”

Gov. Gavin Newsom is fighting the lawsuit. His press team mocked the Trump administration on social media for frequently targeting Mr. Newsom, a likely 2028 Democratic presidential candidate.

“Trump’s back to his favorite hobby: blaming California for literally everything,” his press office posted on social media. “Next up: Gavin Newsom caused the fall of Rome and sent the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs!”

Michigan officials have not yet responded to the federal lawsuit.