“It was very hopeful": Ag groups spoke in defense of the industry during CA Prop 12 arguments

After years of legal battles, the Supreme Court heard arguments this week in a challenge to California’s Prop 12.
Ag groups like the National Pork Producers Council and the Farm Bureau argued against the California animal housing law, saying that it would have nationwide impacts on ag.

This law would require all pork sold in the state to conform to specific housing requirements, no matter where the animals were raised.

Michael Formica with the NPPC weighed in on where he saw hope in Tuesday’s hearing.

“It was very hopeful to hear the Justices understand that the trouble that would be created by laws of like Proposition 12 that reach far outside of the state’s borders that try and impose the moral wills of one state on farmers in this case or in any business, any operation that’s located entirely in other states. It has a tremendous impact on pork production and pork prices, but if let stand, it would have a tremendous impact on the U.S. economy and on the flow of commerce across the borders,” he explains.

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