Massachusetts farms impacted by new law to change animal confinement

On Tuesday, Massachusetts voters overwhelmingly approved a new law banning farmers from restrictively confining hens, pigs, and calves; 78% of voters said ‘Yes.’ Diemand Farm was prepared for a yes vote and will change with the law. “We will have to work to accommodate the new requirement to enlarge the cages or go with a cage-free system entirely,” said Brian Bailey of Diemand Farm in Wendell. Bailey said they’ve kept their chickens in cages for efficiency and sanitary reasons, and to protect them from hurting each other. The bill doesn’t restrict chickens from being put in cages, but requires a minimum space for them to stand freely. Bailey said their cages were a couple inches short of the new standard. He added that he expects production of eggs to drop significantly because of the new law. It’s expected to go into effect in 2022.