Pork producers push back against California's Prop 12 in new Farm Bill

Pork industry leaders say a provision in a Farm Bill draft working its way through Congress would provide a legislative fix to California’s Proposition 12.

California requires pork sold in the state to come from breeding pigs with at least 24 square feet of space. While proponents of the law say it’s a win for animal welfare, many in the pork industry say it imposes a financial burden on producers and consumers. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the contentious law last year in a 5-4 decision.

Chase Adams, the assistant vice president of domestic policy at the National Pork Producers Council, said a solution will need to come through new federal legislation after the Supreme Court ruling.

“They ruled against us. But they said that this is an issue that Congress needs to address,” Adams said during a policy panel at the World Pork Expo in Des Moines.

Adams said the U.S. House Agriculture Committee’s proposed Farm, Food and National Security Act of 2024 would prevent a patchwork of state regulations and give producers more certainty.

“It essentially says that no state can ban the sale of a product produced out of that state’s borders based on an arbitrary standard. So, we’re really pleased with that.”

Section 12007 in the bill states: “Producers of covered livestock have a Federal right to raise and market their covered livestock in interstate commerce and therefore no State or subdivision thereof may enact or enforce, directly or indirectly, a condition or standard on the production of covered livestock other than for covered livestock physically raised in such State or subdivision.”

Other NPPC panelists praised the proposed Farm Bill for earmarking $233 million for each fiscal year from 2025 through 2029 for foreign animal disease prevention and preparedness.

This includes monitoring for classical swine fever , foot-and-mouth disease and African swine fever , which is highly contagious and often fatal for pigs. While ASF has not been detected in the U.S., Anna Forseth, director of animal health for NPPC, said the “risk and threat remain the same.”

NPPC’s Vice President of Government Affairs Maria Zieba said another win in the proposed farm bill is more funding for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Market Access Program and Foreign Market Development Program, which help promote U.S. exports.

“We need to get new market access,” Zieba said. “We export over 25% of our production, and that equated to over $8 billion in pork and pork products exported to over 100 countries last year. Unfortunately, we have not been negotiating new market access and new comprehensive trade agreements.”

The Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry is expected to consider its version of the Farm Bill in the coming weeks.