Tasmania to ban battery hen farming

Updated

Tasmania is to become the first Australian state to ban battery hen farming and will fast-track the phasing out of pigs in sow stalls.

The Government announced $2.5 million for animal welfare in yesterday's state budget, including a phase-out of battery farming and the fast-tracking of a planned ban on sow stalls by the middle of next year.

Primary Industries Minister Bryan Green says the Government will immediately ban any future battery hen operation and cap the existing number of pens in production.

The Government says it will help farmers transition away from battery hen and sow stalls in response to a growing consumer preference for products that are sensitive to animal welfare.

"The demand for locally produced eggs, particularly free range, is growing and the industry acknowledges this change and is eager to work with Government on a transition," he said.

"Labor and the Greens have a shared commitment to progressing this issue in partnership with industry."

A national animal welfare group has praised the move.

Lyn White from Animals Australia says it is a significant first step for Australia and follows the European Union battery hen ban at the start of this year.

"This is going to be significant in regards to how Tasmania is perceived both internationally and by the rest of Australia, she said.

"For Australia not to be following suit when 27 countries there have made that decision has been profoundly disappointing.

"Tasmania having, I guess, the foresight to do this in knowing that consumers are now wanting to see animals treated humanely, hopefully that will be a wake-up call for other state governments."

The RSPCA has also welcomed the move but Tasmanian egg producers have reservations.

John Groenewold from the Commercial Egg Producers Association says 65 per cent of eggs sold in the state are from caged hens and the transition will be costly for farmers.

He says it costs farmers considerably more to produce barn-laid, or free-range eggs, and cheaper caged eggs are still more popular.

"We're not sure if it's the right way to go about it. The best way to orchestrate a change would be to encourage consumers to make that shift."

"We think change should be consumer-led and the Government can promote consumers or encourage consumers to buy non-cage eggs and they're prepared to pay that premium, which isn't excessive in most cases, we're quite happy with that.

"That would mean that cage demand or cage production would diminish," he said.

The industry has not been given a timeframe for the phase-out.

Topics: animal-welfare, livestock, states-and-territories, budget, tas, australia

First posted