The California egg law set to go into effect in 2015 is being challenged by Missouri’s Attorney General, Chris Koster.

A law passed in California in 2008 banned the sale of eggs from hens that have spent their entire lives in cages which do not meet certain standards involving quality of life.

The 2010 regulations stipulate that hens’ eggs, beef, and pork all be prohibited from being sold in the state; the law was then furthered in 2010 when lawmakers approved of a new bill stating that, as well as the sale of eggs, the sales of beef and pork products would also be deemed illegal. A five-year time limit was placed on the law, giving the state’s animal producing associates time to organize their farms for compliance.

On Tuesday, Koster filed a motion in a Fresno, California federal court to halt the law’s enactment, evidencing his claim of the negative ways in which the law would impact the economic system in Missouri because of the multitude of farmers relying on the production and sales of eggs for their living; the Midwestern state produces roughly 1.7 billion eggs per year, selling over 33% of those.

The new law would require millions of dollars of farmers’ money to be spent on rebuilding cages which would allow for state-wide compliance with the limits, cited Koster.

Many Missouri citizens agree with Koster’s decision to file a claim against California, if only for the fact that they, like the Attorney General, believe that by allowing California’s law to pass, we would be faced with a new national division, involving the tendency of larger states to overpower the smaller.

However, this sentiment is disagreed upon by other residents of the state, some of whom say that this lawsuit will only end up costing their state more money in the long run – specifically, in the form of farmers’ tax dollars.

Missouri's attorney general is taking aim at California's egg law requiring space for hens http://t.co/CD3aY09nFl

— CBS Sacramento (@CBSSacramento) February 4, 2014

Main image courtesy Lhademmor/U.S.D.A. via Wikimedia Commons.