Shasta College to retrofit hog barn

In the photo, from left, students Cain Madrigal, 22, of Modoc County, Maigen Matteucci, 20, of Orland, and Garrett Wallis, 19, of Arcata look at piglets inside a gestation tube at the Shasta College farm.

Instructors at the college have an eye on the trend of consumers preferring their eggs and pork to come from cage-free sources. The farm is small enough that it doesn't have to comply with Proposition 2, but the college is using grant funds to re-do its hog barn, replacing its small gestation tubes with European-style free stalls, agriculture instructor Trena Kimler-Richards said.

The community college also allows chicks in a feed trial to roam around in pens rather than keeping them in cages. When watching consumer sentiment evolve, Kimler-Richards believes there's a bright side to Proposition 2.

“I think for our California poultry producers meeting that guideline, to me that's a bonus for them,” she said. “If you look at the downside, it changes production and adds cost. But the upside is there's a market.”

For my story on the cage-free trend, click here.