The phase-out of caged eggs will be on the menu at a meeting of the nation’s agriculture ministers.

An independent review of animal welfare standards has recommended an end to the use of battery hens by 2036, but industry advocates want the deadline pushed back by a decade.

Egg Farmers of Australia warned the target would lead to higher egg prices and compensation claims from producers.

With the standards to be discussed at a ministerial meeting in Perth on Thursday, federal Nationals leader David Littleproud added to calls for an extension.

“Our egg farmers deserve support, not surprises, from state governments,” he said.

“Farmers have made investment decisions worth millions of dollars, predicated on the current guidelines, believing they had until 2046.”

Federal Agriculture Minister Murray Watt flatly rejected suggestions a cage ban would trigger egg price hikes.

“I don’t think that there is anywhere near the sort of likelihood of these kind of consequences that some industry groups and some politicians are carrying on about,” he said.

“These people have a history of exaggerating and scaring people about things that just aren’t real.”

Senator Watt said the 2036 deadline gave the industry plenty of time to adjust.

“These are changes that are happening already that in some cases will come in sooner than what the governments are requiring,” he said.

Caged hens make up half the nation’s total egg production.

Supermarket giant Woolworths has agreed to phase out caged eggs from all the brands it sells by 2025.

“Our own Woolworths-branded egg cartons have been 100 per cent cage-free since 2015,” a company spokesperson said.

The review of animal welfare standards has been discussed by the agriculture ministers before and the states could still go their own way on caged eggs.

Jed Goodfellow from welfare group Animals Australia said it was disappointing a national code hadn’t been secured.

“The whole process has taken eight long years, it’s quite ridiculous,” he told AAP.

“Much of the reason for that is that the industry has fought every step of the way not to agree to a phase-out timeline.”

Dr Goodfellow urged ministers to agree to a national time frame.

“With the supermarket commitments to phase out the use of caged eggs in their own supply chains by 2025, it’s very likely that the industry is going to be free of the battery cage system well before the 2036 timeline,” he said.

Also on the meeting agenda is a half-billion-dollar funding shortfall needed to combat the spread of the highly invasive fire ant.

Source: AAP