H5N1, a highly pathogenic strain of avian influenza known as bird flu, continues to wreak havoc on the nation’s egg farms. In just the last month, more than 21.2 million egg-laying hens — about 7 percent of the national flock — have fallen prey to the virus or been brutally killed by egg producers in an effort to slow its spread. It’s led to egg shortages and a spike in egg prices, which reached $5 per dozen on average in January, up from under $2 in 2021, before the current bird flu outbreak began.

Last week, in an effort to boost egg supply, Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo signed into law a bill that allows government officials to temporarily suspend the state’s cage-free egg standards, which requires eggs sold in the state to come from hens raised in cage-free barns rather than in the tiny, cramped cages that are predominant in the egg industry. It also allows for the temporary retail sale of Grade B eggs, which are safe to eat but may come with minor imperfections.

Lombardo has said he wants to repeal Nevada’s cage-free standards altogether.

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Last month, state lawmakers in Michigan and Colorado introduced bills to do just that in their states. Colorado’s bill is dead, while Michigan’s bill is still in committee.

These bills are part of a much larger, longer-term trend attempting to dismantle what little progress has been made on farm animal welfare in the US. For years, livestock industry-friendly members of Congress have pushed for the EATS Act, which would ban states from setting their own standards for livestock products imported from other states, thereby nullifying some of the most important farm animal welfare laws in the country.

It’s unlikely that efforts to repeal and suspend cage-free egg laws will lower egg prices, because there’s already little slack in the national egg supply. The whole country is facing egg shortages, so there’s not exactly a surplus of eggs lying around to fill the gap in Nevada, Michigan, and other cage-free states. University of Arkansas agricultural economist Jada Thompson recently told the Associated Press that Nevada’s suspension could “very slightly” ease egg prices in the state, but could also raise prices in other states by diverting some of the national egg supply to Nevada.

Colorado’s agriculture commissioner recently said the state’s cage-free law is not a significant factor in the shortages or price spikes. The head of the trade group Colorado Egg Producers told local media that the repeal bill “would actually harm our farmers here in the State of Colorado, and it........

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