Certainly there is. That's a key aspect for anyone such as yourself who has experience on a farm. You know that the people involved in livestock agriculture are almost universally people who care about animals. That's why they do it. They are always concerned with the welfare and health of their birds and with keeping those birds healthy, safe, well fed, and appropriately watered. Managing disease is all part of the chain that ultimately leads to a safe, high-quality product for consumers. Absolutely there's an economic benefit to producers ensuring that the birds, in the case of layers, are healthy and well cared for, regardless of which production system is used. That's part of why with our codes review we're looking at ensuring that our codes are the most current they can be for all forms of production, because ultimately there will be room for cages, non-cages, and enriched colony cages as well.
On May 28th, 2013. See this statement in context.