The Supreme Court upheld California’s Proposition 12 back in May. As you might recall, Prop 12 was a ballot initiative that passed in California that created new rules for swine production. Chief among them, it bans the sale of pork in California from the offspring of sows kept in pens that do not meet its prescribed dimensions of 24 square feet per sow, even if the hogs were raised outside of California.
National Pork Producers Council President Scott Hays, a Missouri farmer, says California residents are already seeing the impact.
“The cuts that have to be Prop 12 compliant, the cost of those is up about 27% in California while those same cuts, the retail price of those is down 2% in the rest of the country. So, I think there’s going to be some buyer’s remorse in California with this deal.”
We’ve discussed the impact Prop 12 will have on producers needing to change their operations to be compliant (upwards of $3,500 per sow), but Hays spoke more about the impact to California’s kids.
“I think for most producers, certainly for myself, I think about that and it’s the lower income kids that get hurt by that. They’re the ones that need the product the most. They’re developing. They not only need that protein, but they need the vitamins and minerals that come by eating meat, for development.”
In the Supreme Court decision, the justices agreed that this is a problem. It’s just not their problem. Hays says the farm bill would be a perfect avenue for a legislative fix, and they’ll continue to work on that, but they’re exploring all options.
“Standalone legislation in D.C. is very, very slow. You know, it’s years to get something done on something like that, not months. But I think eventually something will be done because this type of legislation is going to continue to come. The goalposts are going to continue to move for us. But not only will this affect pork, it’s going to affect all of agriculture, and even go out beyond agriculture.”
Another issue is popping up in California that needs to be addressed before it could have a nationwide impact. Click here to read Sabrina Halvorson’s report on a measure from northern California’s Sonoma County that would eliminate animal agriculture in that county.
