As cage-free becomes more and more common, egg producers are scrambling to keep up and transition quickly. But it’s important to make sure that you’re making the right choices about your cage system.
Editor Terrence O’Keefe spoke to 12 egg suppliers at the Midwest Poultry Federation Convention in Saint Paul, MN in March, and he discusses it in his editorial for the April edition of Egg Industry.
According to O’Keefe, it’s imperative that you ask yourself three questions when choosing a system:
1) Do you or will you have a market for additional cage-free eggs?
Don’t worry about whether the entire industry will go cage-free or not. You only need to look at the sales volume that you’ll be able to sell to justify the cost.
2) What kind of performance can you expect from the system?
It’s important to determine whether the system you’re considering has been used in the way that you expect to utilize it. For example, U.S. egg producers should study whether a potential system will impact the cases of eggs packed.
3) What will the optics for your system and layout be?
Consider whether the cage will be perceived as cage-free given its layout and configuration.
Learn more about these tips for transitioning to cage-free in this month’s edition of Egg Industry.
