WASHINGTON, D.C. (RFD NEWS) — Proposition 12, the California law regulating pork production, has prompted years of debate within the pork industry.
Industry leaders celebrated its inclusion in the House’s Farm Bill draft. However, it was omitted from the subsequent Senate version, one of a handful of policy gaps raising concerns.
Many producers had hoped the Senate Farm Bill would include language addressing the law, but Senate Agriculture Committee Chair John Boozman said he was not confident there would be enough support to move the legislation if it included a Proposition 12 fix.
“We’re going to need a number of Democratic votes in order to get this passed on the floor,” Boozman said. “So, because of that, we really haven’t identified anybody who will step up and say that they’re for this on the Democratic side. I’m personally for it. I think the pork producers don’t gain anything if you have a vote and it’s just a party-line vote.”
The pork industry has been seeking a legislative solution since California’s Proposition 12 took effect. The U.S. Supreme Court considered the case in 2022 but ruled that it is up to Congress to address laws like California’s Proposition 12.
“It was disappointing to see the draft version of the Senate Farm Bill come out without addressing Proposition 12,” said
Trish Cook, an Iowa-based pork producer with the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC). “We all know the House had the Save Our Bacon Act in it, and that was so important because it preempts livestock production standards so each state can’t set its own rules on housing for livestock that’s produced outside that state.”
Cook told RFD News that the delayed response from Congress is becoming a states’ rights concern.
“It is frustrating to hear that because in the last two administrations this has been a very bipartisan issue,” Cook said. “This is a states’ rights issue. As an Iowan, I should not be held subject to laws that were passed in California that I did not have any say in.”
Iowa is the second-leading pork-producing state in the country. She believes that the California legislation was promoted by people who do not support the livestock industry and that it contains language that misleads consumers and threatens agriculture.
“We just have a lot of bad actors who are pretending that they’re pig farmers,” she said. “But again, they don’t understand what goes on on a pig farm, how much we care for our animals, and how we work day in and day out to raise the healthiest animals possible.”
