On the first day of 2025, the new Organic Livestock and Poultry Standards will go into effect, changing the definition of what constitutes a cage-free, organic egg. Here’s what that means for us as consumers.
Breaking news: You may soon be seeing bare shelves where the cage-free organic eggs once sat in the grocery store. You might assume this is linked to the recent outbreak of avian flu, but the shortage isn’t what it seems.
While bird flu is still a persistent problem impacting the availability and price of eggs across the United States1, this new dearth is actually linked to a change in the regulations on what constitutes a cage-free organic egg. No surprise, many producers who once met the guidelines now no longer do.
“The many industrial-scale cage-free facilities that wish to maintain organic status will need to make enormous adjustments to their animal agriculture models,” explains Cameron Whitehead, COO of Pete & Gerry’s Organic Eggs. “The new standards will force cage-free farms to enhance their hens’ outdoor living space in a way they haven’t yet explored, largely due to cost implications.”