To comply, farmers have to put fewer hens into each cage or invest in revamped hen houses, passing along the expense to consumers shopping at grocery stores. California is the nation's largest consumer of eggs and imports about one-third of its supply.
Jim Dean, president and CEO of Centrum Valley Farms in Iowa and Ohio, said one of his buildings that holds 1.5 million hens is now about half full to meet California's standards, and another building may have to be completely overhauled.
Farmers like him in cold climates will have to instal heaters to replace warmth formerly generated by the chickens living close together. Dean said that's something people in sunny California didn't consider.
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