More than 100 pork producers from 20 states went to Washington recently to lobby for “an urgent legislative fix” to California’s Proposition 12 covering the size of hog pens.
The delegates explained to federal lawmakers and staff how the controversial law is driving up costs for consumers, threatening small family farms and disrupting interstate commerce, according to the National Pork Producers Council.
“The patchwork of laws set in motion by California’s Prop 12 threatens our mission,” said council president Duane Statelet.
“Congress must act now to ensure a patchwork of regulations does not further threaten this industry we have worked so hard to build,” he said.
The law has also impacted exports of Canadian pigs and pork because Proposition 12 prohibits pork products from growers that do not adhere to Prop 12 regulations from being sold in California.
The big packers don’t want to segregate pigs and pork for the California market, so many demand Proposition 12 standards for all the pigs they buy. That includes weaner pigs from Canada.
