Warning about 'risky' farming change amid shortages at Coles, Woolworths, Aldi
Coles, Woolworths and Aldi have struggled to maintain egg supply in some stores following an outbreak of avian influenza.
Limits on egg purchases have already frustrated shoppers visiting Australia’s major supermarkets this month. The problem was sparked by the spread of disease, and now some farmers are concerned a change to the way we farm chickens could put our supply at "greater risk".
In July, tens of thousands of hens were euthanised after strains of H7N3 avian influenza spread to over a dozen farms in NSW and Victoria. This resulted in eggs disappearing from shelves at major supermarkets like Coles, Woolworths and Aldi.
Testing of the virus indicates each state was infected with separate variants, so it’s believed to have been spread to farms through contact with wild birds. Because free range chickens come into more frequent contact with wild birds, they are more likely to be exposed to the virus than those housed indoors in tight biosecurity systems. And in response Russia has proposed banning free range eggs by March, 2025.
Australia has taken the opposite approach, and will be phasing out traditional cage egg farming by 2036. And the industry’s representative body Egg Farmers of Australia has questioned whether this could cause further insecurity for the nation’s egg supply.
“We can see with avian influenza that if a large number of birds are impacted there is a reduction in eggs in the marketplace, and this is without factoring in that government plans to phase out one production system,” its CEO Melinda Hashimoto told Yahoo News.
Related: Three virus changes trigger concern as odds of new pandemic rise
Is phasing out cage eggs smart right now?
Traditional cages are being phased out over animal welfare concerns, as they only give each hen around a sheet of A4 paper in space. But following the H7N3 outbreak, there are reports that some consumers are asking for cage eggs again because they believe they are safer. That’s despite there being no evidence the virus can be transmitted when eggs are thoroughly cooked.
Given the uncertainty created by the virus and cost of living pressures, Hashimoto argues governments should reconsider prioritising production systems that provide affordable protein and food security.
“Farmers feel that with government phasing out cages they have been pushed into accepting a production system of greater risk,” she said.
“It is supermarkets and animal welfare groups that want free range or cage free eggs, and yet when avian influenza impacts our industry it is industry and government that pays for the response.”
What you need to know about H5N1
Are authorities confident egg supply can be maintained?
While traditional cages will be phased out by 2036, the government will continue to allow slightly larger “enriched” cages and indoor barn systems.
The Federal Department of Agriculture (DAFF) believes its established biosecurity practices can control the current H7N3 outbreaks.
“The national layer hen flock has been impacted by these outbreaks, and there is some localised disruption to supply noting this is considered manageable in the context of overall national supply,” it told Yahoo.
It did not comment on whether free range systems are a particular risk to the spread of avian influenza. “Local biosecurity arrangements on farms, and across farming industries, can vary by industry according to operational risk,” it said.
Is industrialised farming actually causing the disease problem?
While some within the industry argue in favour of maintaining cage systems, animal welfare groups like Compassion in World Farming say they’re the problem.
They note the close confinement of chickens living in these systems provide the perfect environment for viruses to mutate into deadly strains like H5N1 which has spread across poultry and livestock, wild birds and mammals, and even humans. If H5N1 spread to our shores it could have a serious impact on our native animals, which are not thought to have any immunity to the disease.
Chris Delforce, a vocal opponent of industrialised farming and the founder of Farm Transparency Project, has labelled large-scale commercial farming a “biosecurity disaster waiting to happen”.
“These places are breeding grounds for all sorts of novel diseases… the potential for one of these inevitable outbreaks to decimate our wildlife cannot continue to be ignored,” he told Yahoo.
Overseas, infectious diseases experts have raised concerns not enough is being done to stop the spread of H5N1. Dr Jenna Guthmiller has been studying the virus in dairy herds at the Department of Immunology and Microbiology at The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.
“Not enough surveillance is going on. I think we’re catching some of these outbreaks towards the tail end. And that’s really where my concerns lie,” she told Yahoo.
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