Arizona shoppers could end up paying more for eggs as state lawmakers protect a major producer from an animal rights initiative drive.
On Tuesday, House members gave preliminary approval to a bill seen as a compromise between Hickman's Family Farms and the Humane Society.
It would require commercial farms to provide at least one square foot of space for each egg-laying hen, and in five years, those operations would have to go completely cage-free.
"We don't want to see a proposition come to this state and leave us out of that process," said owner Greg Hickman, wanting to get ahead of mandatory legislation.
By working with the Humane Society toward an agreement, his company can avoid having its operations forced to make changes much like a ballot measure ridding pig and cattle farms of "gestation crates" in 2006.
"This is why we're asking for this legislation and this is why we are supporting it," said Hickman.
The Arizona Farm Bureau has predicted the price for a dozen eggs will jump a full dollar if the new legislation passes.
