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The National Pork Producers Council, in partnership with the American Farm Bureau Federation, rallied over 900 agricultural stakeholders for a federal resolution to California’s Proposition 12, aiming to include it in the 2024 Farm Bill.
A letter sent to the U.S. House Agriculture Committee Chairman G.T. Thompson (R-PA) and Ranking Member David Scott (D-GA) from over 40 states lays out what these agricultural groups say are Proposition 12’s damaging implications.
The coalition has highlighted the following issues in their letter:
- Marketplace mayhem: U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack warned the House Agriculture Committee that unless Congress provides a solution to Prop. 12, there will be “chaos in the marketplace.” Vilsack also reiterated to the Senate Agriculture Committee that “farmers do not need the chaos; they need clarity and certainty.”
- Patchwork of state laws to fuel consolidation: Absent congressional action, producers are “at risk of arbitrary and conflicting state laws across all 50 states … most severely harming small and medium-sized farms by imposing massive compliance costs and forcing significant consolidation throughout agriculture.” University studies show that building “Proposition 12-compliant barns can cost 40 percent more than traditional barns … not including the estimated 15 percent higher operating costs caused by reduced productivity.”
- Larger farms will be able to better weather the cost, and small farms will be forced “to decide between exiting the business or entering into a production contract, resulting in fewer, larger farms owning a greater portion of sows in the U.S.”
- International trade threats: Prop. 12 compliance weakens America’s ability to negotiate trade agreements, “as countries could impose similar non-science based regional restrictions on U.S. exports.” American agriculture is also concerned that Prop. 12 puts our products at risk of retaliatory action, as Canada has already raised concerns.
- Producers trapped by California law: Pork producers lack the luxury of choosing not to sell into the California market. As Vilsack also said to the Senate Agriculture Committee, “There is not a choice between doing business with California and not in California. You’re essentially going to be driven by that requirement.”
- Freedom to farm protected: The House Farm Bill protects producers’ freedom to farm, but it also “continues allowing states to act independently, imposing laws that impact commerce within their borders and regulating practices occurring there.”
- A bipartisan imperative: The U.S. Supreme Court and Vilsack agree: “Only Congress has the authority to prevent ‘chaos’ in the marketplace and provide farmers the certainty they need.”