Starting Jan. 1, all eggs sold in Colorado will come from cage-free hens. Only time will tell whether the change will impact egg prices. 

Legislators passed the law to require these new practices in 2020, kicking off a multiyear ramp-up to 2025. 

“All of our producers — both in Colorado and producers who sell into Colorado — have been prepared for cage-free for many, many years,” said Kate Greenberg, the state commissioner of agriculture. “Our producers are producing. There should be eggs on the shelves, and they’ve done a great job of adapting in a challenging environment.” 

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Dan Zangari, the technical services section chief for the inspection and consumer services division at the Colorado Department of Agriculture, said that Colorado’s egg producers will be in full compliance by Jan. 1 and will have enough eggs to service the entire state. 

What is cage-free?

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The first phase of the law started in January 2023, requiring that egg facilities have 144 square inches of space per hen. The 2025 requirements will push this change further by mandating that any eggs sold or distributed in Colorado come from a fully cage-free facility. 

In Colorado, this refers to an indoor or outdoor environment where hens are free to roam unrestricted with access to “enrichments that allow them to exhibit natural behaviors.” This includes items like scratch areas, perches, nest boxes and more. 

Since 2020, the Department of Agriculture has been working with producers through each of the transitions. 

“On the industry side, what I’ve heard is that having the phased approach has really been helpful for them because they’re having enough time to make that transition, and they don’t have that undue stress and cost of having to do that instantly,” Zangari said. 

A 2023 study from the University of California, Davis, estimated that producers will face up to a 20% increase in production costs implementing cage-free requirements. Bill Scebbi, executive director of industry group Colorado Egg Producers, estimated that producing cage-free eggs increases operational costs by between 16% to 18%. 

It is a change and law that producers supported from the start as the industry and market both move toward cage-free adoption, according to Greenberg. 

With the change, Colorado becomes the 10th state to ban the sale and production of caged eggs, joining Arizona, California, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington and Utah. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that by 2026, cage ban requirements and policies will cover 16% of all egg operations due to the policies of these 10 states. In 2022, they covered less than 5%. 

In a news release, Scebbi said the cage-free law is a “natural progression in (the Colorado Egg Producers’) ongoing efforts to meet evolving consumer expectations.”

The group’s members have “always prioritized responsible and humane practices,” he added.

Will this impact the cost and supply of eggs? 

The exact impact that this will have on egg prices remains uncertain, partially due to other forces at play including inflation and outbreaks of the highly pathogenic avian influenza. 

While national egg prices have fluctuated in recent years, the average cost of a dozen eggs has increased by 135% — rising from $1.55 to $3.65 — between January 2019 and November, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index. For the first 11 months of this year, the average price has increased by around 45% from $2.52 in January. 

According to the weekly egg market overview from the U.S. Department of Agriculture published on Dec. 20, the average price of a dozen cage-free eggs rose by $0.49 to $2.99 this past week with inventory dropping 3%. Inventory of cage-free eggs, however, increased by 5%.

In November, the average price of a dozen cage-free eggs was $3.23, according to the monthly cage-free egg report from the department.  

This comes during the holidays, a time when consumer demand is heightened — and as avian influenza continues to impact supply, according to the report.

In 2024, as in previous years, avian flu hit 12 states, including Colorado. 

Greenberg, in a November update to the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission, reported that Colorado was the epicenter of the outbreak in July and August. 

“We saw a few poultry, dairy and a few human cases all at the same time,” she said. “All of that has since resolved, knock on wood, at least for now in Colorado … but we are seeing outbreaks continue in neighboring states.” 

In Colorado and other states, this caused challenges with supply. 

“We are working with producers, and they are hustling to get supply back online,” Greenberg said in November. “So they’re really not anticipating a big drop, but we just continue to monitor how the disease moves through the West and the U.S.” 

The Dec. 20 report from the federal Department of Agriculture stated that while all major production systems saw impacts from avian influenza this year, cage-free experienced “the most disproportionate loss resulting in significant price impacts for cage-free eggs, especially in states with legislated confinement requirements such as California.”

In October, some Kroger grocery stores in Colorado had signs warning that shoppers could see egg supply issues due to the cage-free egg law. According to Jessica Trowbridge, Kroger’s spokesperson for the region, this was when the grocer had started to transition to cage-free but has since seen supply stabilize. 

With differing factors at play, it remains to be seen how next week’s cage-free change will impact egg supply and cost. However, some concerns remain. 

Sonia Riggs, president and CEO of the Colorado Restaurant Association, said she does expect negative consequences for restaurants. 

“Unfortunately, we do expect to see higher prices at restaurants and continued limited supply when the new cage-free egg law goes into effect,” Riggs said. “Local operators in Vail and elsewhere have shared that egg prices have been on the rise all year, and some are even seeing increases of more than 200%.”

These increases have “a major impact on restaurants’ bottom lines” at a time when restaurants are facing “a real struggle to stay afloat,” Riggs added. 

Colorado’s cage-free egg law is one of several new state laws that starts in the new year.