R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press At Elmer’s County Market, where limits of two cartons per customer have been imposed, co-owner and dairy manager Mike Dagenais reaches for one of the new types of eggs the store has gotten in recently. Having a number of suppliers has allowed the local grocer to stay well-stocked despite fears of shortages due to new legislation and avian flu.

By R. R. Branstrom

rbranstrom@dailypress.net

ESCANABA — A new cage-free egg law that went into effect on Dec. 31 has changed the practices of farmers who supply to Michigan and impacted prices — unfortunately at a time coinciding with avian flu outbreaks. The ripple through the market has been seen in different ways.

The legislation requires that shell eggs sold in Michigan for human consumption must be the product of housing systems without cages unless coming from farms with less than 3,000 laying hens. It applies to chickens, guinea fowl, turkeys, ducks and geese, but only when the eggs are sold in shells, not cooked or in liquid form. Governor Whitmer signed the bill in 2019, so providers have had five years to prepare.

At Elmer’s County Market in Escanaba, having a number of suppliers means that the store hasn’t been faced with an inability to obtain compliant eggs.

“If one supplier is out, the other has had them.  We also partner with a couple of local egg suppliers that have less than 3,000 hens, so we can use their eggs,” said Elmer’s Store Director Kurt Strasler.

Since the more immediate pressure was on farmers to adjust their practices, retailers, restaurants and individual consumers have just been waiting, watching the prices fluctuate, with little control over the situation.

However, some pointed out that prices of eggs have always gone up and down, and the current situation is not extreme nor unmanageable.

“The suppliers were aware of what’s going on,” said Bobbi Ryan, co-owner of Jack’s Restaurant in Rapid River, and remarked that she was grateful to wholesale restaurant distributor Sysco for being on the ball.

“My supplier, their warehouse is in Wisconsin,” Ryan said. “They knew that they had a lot of customers that were in the Upper Michigan or Michigan area, and so they were ahead of the game. …They ordered more on their end than what they would normally carry, so demand didn’t drive the price.”

At Rosy’s Diner in Escanaba, co-owner Myra Fields said she actually observed egg prices fall the week that the cage-free egg law took effect.

“We were paying twice as much right before,” Fields said. “Before (the new law) came out, we actually had to go to the grocery store and buy extra a couple times because they were just so expensive. We found a little relief in it, actually, when the cage-free came over.”

While it’s difficult to identify exactly the reason behind a spike, since there are always multiple factors at play, the price jump before the new year may have been because of the sporadic outbreaks of avian influenza in commercial and backyard flocks, cattle and even people. As of Jan. 6, 66 cases of H5N1 avian flu were confirmed in humans in the U.S. since 2024, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“The timing of this law going into effect isn’t ideal with the current avian flu concerns, (but) the industry is responding to the best of its ability,” reported Michigan Retailers Association’s Vice President of Communications Vic Veda. “As other states with cage-free standards are experiencing egg shortages and price fluctuations due to the lingering outbreak of bird flu, suppliers have been moving cage-free eggs from other parts of the country to cover low supply in outbreak areas that only allow the sale of cage-free eggs.”

Ryan said that there hasn’t been the shortage she worried might happen, and that Jack’s hasn’t had to raise their menu prices. They’re used to price fluctuations: “Eggs go up and down quite a bit depending on what’s going on out there,” Ryan said.

“Price of eggs is definitely high, definitely a lot higher than even two months ago, but it’s not to the point I’m nervous yet,” said Vicky LaMarche, co-owner of Donut Connection. She does not anticipate raising prices.

At Rosy’s, “We try not to jump the prices if we don’t have to,” said Fields. “We don’t want to do that to do that to the customers. We just hope they’re going to go back down.”

Retailers seem to have been hit harder, and it is reflected on shelves.

Elmer’s has imposed a limit of two units per customer, but dairy manager and co-owner Mike Dagenais says the restriction will be dropped if they get backed up with overstock. On Tuesday morning, the cheapest type — Eggland’s Best — was almost gone, but plenty of options in the cooler were fully-stocked.

Dagenais said that he’s been ordering more varieties and brands than usual — pretty much whatever cage-free options are available — to prevent a shortage.

Strasler said that while Elmer’s has had to raise prices some, they’ve also taken a hit themselves — they’re taking a smaller profit margin, and he hopes shoppers recognize that it’s because Elmer’s values their customers.

At another Michigan grocery store, “Meijer has been working closely with our suppliers for years to comply with the new regulations. Our goal is to always provide the best value for our customers, and our cage-free eggs will remain competitively priced,” said Meijer External Communications Manager Erin Cataldo.

Marie Dominic, an Escanaba resident who said she shops mostly at Aldi, said that she noticed the prices increase but is trying to be reasonable.

“Four dollars per dozen, while it hurts the pocket a bit, really isn’t that much when you think about how many portions you’re getting out of it. Look at how expensive meat and nuts are — eggs are still probably your cheapest protein, and they’re good brain food,” Dominic said.

Opponents to the cage-free legislation have argued that while people might feel comforted by the notion of birds being treated in a way they perceive as humane, “cage-free” doesn’t mean free-range or pasture-raised. According to guidelines, hens may still be kept in crowded indoor facilities with no daylight; the minimum requirement for cage-free is 1 square foot of useable floor space per hen — or 1.5 square feet if no vertical space is accessible.

Strasler estimates that it could take until mid-year for prices to stabilize, and that he has some concerns about what might happen around Easter, when many distributors tend to jack up their egg prices.