GAINESVILLE, Ga. -- A wide spectrum of agricultural groups have expressed dismay at passage of California's Proposition 2 ballot initiative, which will effectively ban farms from raising hens in cages.

The initiative, which appeared on the Nov. 4 general election ballot, calls on the state "To prohibit the confinement of farm animals in a manner that does not allow them to turn around freely, lie down, stand up and fully extend their limbs."

Californians approved the measure by 63.3 percent to 36.7 percent. Unofficial vote count placed the vote at 5,833,645 for 'yes' and 3,387,423 for 'no.'

The legislation would go into effect Jan. 1, 2015. Violators would face a fine of up to $1,000 or six month is county jail.

Although Prop. 2 targeted spaces available for calves raised for veal, pigs during pregnancy and egg laying hens, the initiative specially hit the state's egg industry. There is no veal production in California and very little hogs, while there are 19 million laying hens in the state.

Opposition to the measure had been led by Californians for Safe Food, a coalition of public health and food safety experts, labor unions, consumers, family farmers and veterinarians.

In a statement on the election result, the coalition said the campaign for a 'yes' vote was "backed by one of the nation's richest Washington,D.C.-based special interest and lobbying groups, led an emotionally manipulative, dishonest and often deceptive campaign."

The 'yes' campaign was run by Californians for Humane Farms, a coalition headed by Farm Sanctuary and the Humane Society of the United States.

Gene Gregory, president of Georgia-based United Egg Producers which also opposed the initiative, expressed disappointment in the results of the Prop. 2 election.

"Animal rights groups succeeded in convincing voters in California into thinking Prop. 2 was about animal cruelty by using images of pets in their ads, when in fact Prop. 2 simply was a means to try to end animal farming in that state," said Gregory.

Kay Johnson Smith, executive vice president of the Animal Agriculture Alliance, said, "We are despondent that California voters didn't hear animal welfare experts' messages warning of higher rates of death in non-cage systems, increased rates of smothering, increased incidences of aggression and much more.

"Our organization believes that quality animal welfare creates wins for animals, farmers and consumers. It is disappointing to learn that, in the tumult caused by all the various initiatives, consumers didn't hear that message," Smith added.

Opponents of Prop. 2 had argued that passage of the measure would effectively destroy the California egg industry. They said the phrase "fully extend their limbs" would mean each layer hen would have to be allowed at least 5 feet of space.

A University of California-Davis economic study said California egg farmers could not compete under the regulation and would be forced out of business.

According to the study, the impact of the ballot measure would be a loss of almost 3,400 jobs and a loss of $615 million to the state's economy.

The California for Safe Food coalition stated, "The special interest group that pushed Prop. 2 will now go back to Washington and leave it to California's farmers, veterinarians, regulators and lawyers to interpret what this poorly-conceived and vaguely-worded initiative actually means for the real people it affects."

UEP's Gregory added, "Because the wording of Prop.2 is so vague, the state of California will have to determine how this new law actually will be implemented and enforced when it comes into effect six years from now."

"Will other states be targeted for initiatives similar to Prop.2? Probably. But just because voters in one state like California pass Prop. 2 doesn't mean that the other 49 states should follow suit," Gregory said.

Similar legislation probably will be introduced in other states.

Farm Sanctuary's President and Co-Founder Gene Baur, in a statement celebrating passage of Prop. 2, said, "We look forward to seeing these confinement systems phased out nationwide."