Local-food push fuels egg production boom in Nevada

As California egg producers continue to adapt to new cage size rules, their industry in neighboring Nevada is experiencing a boom. Poultry and egg production cash receipts in the Silver State have risen 200 percent since 2010 — from $5.32 million that year to $15.96 million in 2014, according to USDA statistics. The jump comes as the state’s overall agriculture production value rose by 50 percent during the same period, from $636 million to $952 million, the Nevada Department of Agriculture reported. Driving the growth were cow-calf, milk and hay production, according to the agency. Tatjana Vukovic, an education and information officer for the department, chalks Nevada’s egg and poultry production increases up to rising demand, although she didn’t rule out that California’s Proposition 2 may have enticed a few producers to move operations here.