Grain shortages due to the war in Ukraine and ten-year caging legislation is putting pressure on kiwi egg producers.
In 2012 the government introduced a code of welfare for laying hens that sees battery cages illegal at the end of this year. At the time of the new regulation, 85 percent of producers used cages. Several producers switched to the colony method, which still saw hens caged in groups of up to 60. However, most major supermarkets have agreed to stop selling colony eggs by 2027.
Around 65 percent of the egg production costs come from feed, and with the war in Ukraine affecting global grain supplies, chicken feed prices are skyrocketing. An Otago poultry framer has said feed that was once $450 a tonne is now $650.
