Lombardo signs law allowing Nevada to temporarily drop cage-free egg sale rule

Gov. Joe Lombardo signed legislation Thursday that will allow Nevada to temporarily drop a ban on all but cage-free eggs in the state, an effort that was fast-tracked through the Nevada Legislature to address rising egg prices.

Assembly Bill 171 had its first hearing Monday and passed unanimously through both chambers of the Legislature, becoming the first major policy proposal to become law in the 83rd legislative session. The bill, sponsored by Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager and Assembly member Howard Watts, both D-Las Vegas, was drafted in response to soaring egg costs for consumers during a national avian flu outbreak.

Costs in Nevada also may have been affected by the state’s requirement that eggs sold and produced in the state must come from cage-free hens. That law was passed in 2021 as Assembly Bill 399.

About 40 percent of the country’s egg-laying hen flocks are in cage-free environments, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“This bipartisan legislation represents how effective the Legislature can be when they work together,” the Republican governor said in a statement. “While Assembly Bill 171 will help lower the costs of eggs for up to 120 days during specific disease events or natural disasters, I strongly urge the Legislature to next send a repeal of Assembly Bill 399 (2021) to my desk, so that we can permanently lower these costs and remove harmful, California-inspired legislation once and for all.”

The new law will let state officials order the temporary suspension of cage-free egg requirements during “any ongoing event that negatively impacts the national supply chain for egg products or shell eggs.” It allows for no more than two suspensions in a calendar year and requires the state give no less than 14 days’ notice of the suspension’s ending.

It also allows state officials to consider other avenues, including permitting consumer sale of extra supply of grade B eggs — normally reserved for baked goods — suspending purchases from governmental agencies and permitting small producers to bring eggs to market. Nevada Department of Agriculture Director J.J. Goicoechea said the state is not purchasing eggs at this time, and small producers already have a permitting process, but the department plans to do more outreach. He also said some grade B eggs, which have a lower cosmetic quality than A and AA, could go to stores, but the department did not want to affect the supply chain for other food products.

Lawmakers and retail industry groups contend that the law may help drive down egg prices in the Silver State by allowing purchasers to procure eggs from other sources. The intent is to increase supply in the state, which could help lower costs.

Nevada has no commercial egg operations, Goicoechea said. Nevada joined several other Western states in 2021 when it established its cage-free egg requirements. The state has since sourced most of its eggs from Arizona, California and others in the region — but a wave of avian flu at the end of 2024 significantly diminished those flocks.

“We saw a bigger impact to those we can source our eggs from,” Goicoechea said. “That’s why, now, as they’re rebuilding over the next 12 to 18 months, we need to be able to go more toward the Midwest, go to the Southeast, and source those eggs from the more ‘traditional’ rearing. We can give our closest suppliers the time to get their flocks back up into production.”

He estimated it will take about 30 days for consumers to see price changes and regular supply on grocery shelves.

Andrew Woods, executive director of UNLV’s Center for Business and Economic Research, said increasing supply sources may help Nevadans. But with the national avian flu outbreak expected to continue to affect the country’s egg-laying hen population, the issue may not be resolved for some time.

“I applaud lawmakers trying to ease restrictions during a unique time right now to help create more sources of supply and potentially alleviate at least some of the pressure, but at the end of the day that’s not what’s causing it,” Woods said. “Unfortunately for consumers, (egg prices are) going to be higher and supply is going to be lower until we get a handle on what’s going on with our bird population.”

Goicoechea said the temporary suspension order — which he was drafting Thursday afternoon and is expected to go out in the coming days — would not change any health or food safety standards. USDA and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulations require eggs to be tested, inoculated and stay in refrigeration throughout storage, transportation and sale.

Goicoechea thanked lawmakers and the governor for moving quickly during the crisis, which is expected to continue this year.

“We know that this is a very valuable protein for a lot of our populations,” he said. “They rely on this protein. Normally it’s very affordable. Unfortunately, it’s not now, so if this is something we can do to make that more affordable, get it back on the shelves and give our constituents that protein source again, then this is what it’s all about.”

Contact McKenna Ross at mross@reviewjournal.com. Follow @mckenna_ross_ on X.