California Pork (Laws) Still Top of Mind
With California Ag Today, I am Haylie Shipp. This is the Ag Information Network.
Like a number of other agricultural organizations, the National Pork Producers Council is pushing for a new farm bill. Chase Adams, senior director of congressional relations for NPPC, says they feel there’s still a legitimate chance a bill gets done despite political roadblocks…
“From the pork industry, we need to get a farm bill done now, not only for our animal health priorities, which we carry along with our other friends in the barnyard and the ag groups but for the imposition that California Prop 12 is put on this industry, right? Non-science-based animal housing standards, and the concern that if we don't get preemption in this farm bill, and if we don't address this in some way, we're looking down the barrel of an entire patchwork of state regulations, and that would be an existential threat for the pork industry.”
Chase says a bigger concern for NPPC is what comes next after Prop 12...
“As much as anything, this is the concern that what's the next piece to fall, right? What's the next arbitrary standard that we're gonna see out there from another state legislature or state ballot initiative? So, that's why Chairman Thompson has been a champion with us from the beginning. This is huge for the pork industry, but this is bigger than just the pork industry because while we're the target of California Prop 12 along with the veal industry, the next state regulation might not necessarily be on pork. It could be on beef production or any other livestock production.”
Again, Chase Adams is with the National Pork Producers Council.
