Walking on eggs: Who will win the war - and is there a shortage soon?

Far from the public eye, there is a big battle between the egg growers and the Ministry of Agriculture.

On the agenda: preventing suffering from the chickens, the quality of the eggs and especially a cartel that wants to continue to set quotas and prices, and threatens to stop the marketing of the eggs.

This time the threat of shortage may be real - for all the wrong reasons

Liat Ron

09/05/2022

Monday, 09 May 2022, 12:10 Updated: 12:38

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Yesterday afternoon, a stormy demonstration of chicken coops was held in Zarit in the north.

Their rolling protest intensifies as the reform in the dumping industry approaches its implementation.

Its next stage will be next Tuesday, in the first discussion of the Knesset Education Committee.

The small chicken coops are threatening that if the commission does not curb the changes that are forced on them, they will stop supplying eggs to the marketing chains and consumers, which means that the egg shelves will be emptied of goods.

Ask and rightly so - what does the Education Committee have to do with the omelet we eat?

Well, it turns out there is a close connection.

The Education Committee, chaired by MK Sharan Hashakel, is responsible for everything related to animal cruelty, and the discussion that will take place tomorrow will deal with one of the biggest threats to the industry's farmers, "regulations for keeping chicken coops without cages," or in other words, turning all chicken coops into freedom. Laying conditions are several times better than those they get today and the public will get healthier eggs.

The regulations are intended to upgrade the laying hens and their sanitary conditions, and to ensure the welfare of the chickens, completely eliminating the cage growth common in most coops in the country and thus Israel will join advanced countries in the world that have adopted policies to prevent animal cruelty.

According to the proposed regulations - the number of laying hens in the coop has dropped to almost half, which may hurt profitability, concrete floor casting, proper ventilation, air conditioning, lighting, water and food accessibility, installation of control and monitoring systems, controlled veterinary supervision and computerized registration - all these will increase On the part of the coopers.

Seemingly, the chicken coops should also welcome any improvement in the condition of their chickens, but unfortunately they do not see happy chickens, but a hole in the pocket.

The many requirements, which have been laid out for years, cost a great deal of money.

To date, they have managed to dissolve the reforms in various exercises.

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Chairman of the Education Committee, MK Sharan Hashakel.

What is the connection between chickens and education?

Not a bad question for a citizenship test (Photo: Reuven Castro)

Caged towers?

You will not receive quotas

"The Poultry Council does not oppose the move," says

.

What is also given in the regulations is also an adjustment period and those who have established chicken coops in recent years will be able to continue raising chickens in them for the period stipulated in the regulations.

This policy is also reflected in the determination of the annual quotas in the industry submitted by the Minister to the Economics Committee.

This year, Minister Forer gave new quotas only to chicken coops without cages. "In other words: anyone who does not make the necessary changes as a result of the new regulations will not be able to sell eggs legally in the State of Israel.

Ahead of the committee discussion, the small coops are claiming severe discrimination.

According to them, the large chicken coops have been extended until 2029, with the understanding that their chicken coops are in a better condition, while the small ones, who can barely make ends meet, are supposed to meet the expensive demands in a short time and without state support.

Here it is worth noting that a large proportion of the small coops are at the lowest level in terms of animal welfare and sanitation.

Only them no one asks.

Chicken coop (Photo: ShutterStock)

"We will not hesitate to stop the supply of eggs"

"This is a unilateral reform at the back door," says Tzachi Ben-

Ayun

.

It hurts our pockets, our livelihoods, the 70 years we have invested in the dumping industry and agriculture, and we will go to struggles, demonstrations, appeal to the High Court again and if we have to stop the supply chain, we have to take action. If necessary, we will not hesitate to stop supply The eggs. "

Agriculture Minister Oded Forer: "They will decide how many chickens to raise, how and by whom" (Photo: Niv Aharonson)

"Blade 433 would be sent there immediately"

The Minister of Agriculture, Oded Forer

, does not intend to give up.

"What drives me crazy is that a certain group of farmers want to run the whole event," he tells Walla. "They will decide how many chickens to raise, how and by whom. Closed.

"If it was an insurance company and not a coop, or a chocolate factory infected with salmonella, would anyone let the supervisor intervene in the supervision?

The 433rd blade would be sent there immediately

.

The real issue is not regulations, but the letter from the veterinary services, the significant pulse of which came into force in March this year.

As part of this pulse, no more population permits will be issued for coops that do not meet the health standard and that is what is stressing the egg breeders.

The farmers are doing everything to postpone the date when it will take effect. "

Chairman of the Economics Committee, MK Michael Bitton.

The coopers trust him to allow them to continue earning a living, also at the expense of public health and suffering for the chickens (Photo: Reuven Castro)

Terrifies the laying towers

These are two "letters" issued by the Ministry of Agriculture.

The first is from January 2014, and the second, currently relevant, from October 2019, which sets out the procedures for collecting the eggs, how to store, market and document them and regulate the structure of the coop, flooring, fencing, food storage, disinfection and cleaning of the coop, and other procedures that make the coops safer for public health.

Previous agriculture ministers have not withstood the pressure of the agricultural lobby and are texting the date of their entry into force.

The current minister, Oded Forer, is going for the full move, which terrifies the laying towers.

"They are not hiding their threat," says

a source in the poultry industry.

Ministers who simply did not withstand the pressure of the agricultural lobby - 'If there are no eggs, we will increase imports, you will not threaten us'.

"Farmers trust Michael Bitton, chairman of the economics committee, who supports them unconditionally and do whatever they please, even at the expense of harming public health due to bird flu or infected eggs."

Ram Ben Barak, head of the agricultural lobby in the Knesset.

Cherries of previous plots folded under pressure from the egg cartel (Photo: Reuven Castro)

Minister's note: What happened to food security?

We returned to Forer, who was unwilling to accept threats: "A certain group has been given the free right to grow a food product for all Israeli citizens, and they are in fact threatening to stop marketing eggs if regulations are introduced to prevent animal cruelty

and public health concern.

But note that all the statements about 'food security' are suddenly gone

. But there are other things that need to be done, such as changes to the Poultry Board.

The public is not aware of this, but there is a council that is the one that determines who will get a quota, who will grow and how much will grow, and the country that allocates this resource has almost no say in the matter.

That is why we bring a few things in the amendment of legislation: to apply standards of good governance and transparency to this council as well as to all other public bodies in the country, to include state representatives and give it control over council activities, and to determine that quotas distributed from year onwards That the state decides to abolish the quotas.

It should be understood that in order to raise chickens for laying, you need to get a lid.

Out of about 2,850 quota holders, only about 1,350 raise laying hens and the rest rent them out and in the end it rolls over to a consumer who pays more for the eggs.

This was true for a planned market, 20 and 30 years ago.

It's time to upgrade the industry and let farmers be truly farmers.

Those who will not be able to engage in agriculture will be able to use coops for growing in enclosed spaces, or convert them to tourism or residence, which is what we are aiming for.

"My commitment will continue to be for all Israeli citizens, and not just for a small pressure group that, in the moment of truth, proves that the power in its hands is excessive and dangerous."

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• Education Committee

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• Animal cruelty

• Oded Forer

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