The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) said it was disappointed after the release of Senate Democrats’ 2024 Farm Bill text by U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-Michigan).
“Though America’s pork producers appreciate Chairwoman Stabenow’s efforts to publish farm bill text, this is simply not a viable bill, as it fails to provide a solution to California Prop 12,” said NPPC President Lori Stevermer. “Pork producers have continually spoken up about the negative impacts of this issue, and it is a shame these conversations were disregarded.”
In May, NPPC secured 100% of pork producers’ priorities in the House Agriculture Committee-passed bipartisan 2024 Farm Bill. In June, producers once again secured all policy priorities in Senate Agriculture Committee Ranking Member John Boozman’s 2024 Farm Bill framework.
NPPC urges both chambers of Congress to swiftly consider and pass a Farm Bill this year that includes a fix to California Proposition 12, a state law that it says places arbitrary housing standards on the pork industry, creating uncertainty for pork producers as they look to continue their operations to the next generation.
Prop 12 establishes minimum space requirements based on square feet for breeding pigs, veal calves and egg-laying hens, and bans the sale of meat and eggs from those animals when they are raised in a way that does not comply with the minimum requirements. Prop 12 withstood legal challenges, when the Supreme Court ruled in May 2023 to uphold the law. It was fully implemented January 1.
