The American Association of Swine Veterinarians (AASV) and the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), in separate letters to Congress, have urged lawmakers to support the Proposition 12 provision in the farm bill.
The House farm bill provision would prohibit states from implementing laws and regulations that dictate animal production practices outside their borders.
“Because no single husbandry style is applicable in all situations, on-farm animal management decisions should be based on the best available scientific evidence and professional judgement,” AASV said in its letter. “The veterinarians and farmers who work with these animals daily are best informed to make those decisions. Regulatory requirements placing arbitrary limits on the veterinarian’s ability to work with our clients to promote the best on-farm husbandry practices may not be in the best interest of the animals under our care.”
Proposition 12, which was approved by California voters in 2018, 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.
“The ballot initiative does not objectively improve animal welfare,” AASV said. “In fact, in some cases, it may compromise animal welfare.
“There is a strong scientific consensus that, to maximize animal welfare, the choice between individual stalls and group pens must be made on a case-by-case basis, depending on the circumstances faced by each individual herd and farm. When this choice is made according to sound husbandry and veterinary principles, animal-welfare outcomes are similar between group housing and individual stalls,” the letter continued.
Similarly, in its letter, AVMA said “allowing one state to dictate husbandry requirements to other states not only interferes with interstate commerce, but opens the door for future governance of all states by an individual state. This kind of legislation will create a patchwork of regulations that are often not scientifically based, could impact biosecurity, and would be cost prohibitive and cumbersome for veterinarians and their producer clients to navigate. Ensuring good animal health and welfare requires a veterinarian to have the freedom and authority to recommend the best course of action for each unique situation.”
Section 12006 of the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026 (H.R. 7567) is a provision that prevents states from enforcing animal welfare, pesticide and food safety standards on agricultural products produced in other states. It effectively overrides Proposition 12 and other laws like it.
In an April 21 letter sent to House Speaker Mike Johnson and Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Reps. Jim Costa, Lateefah Simon and Zoe Lofgren, along with other Democrats, called on leadership to reject any language that would pre-empt state standards like Proposition 12, arguing that “such provisions would override the will of millions of Californians, disrupt a market that has already adapted, and penalize farmers and producers who have invested to comply.”
