Back in 2018, California voters passed Proposition 12, which is scheduled to go into effect on January 1st, 2022. But several Ag groups are looking to stop the law before it starts.

A Protect the Harvest release says the bill increases regulations on the egg, pork, and veal producers both in the state of California as well as any out-of-state producers that want to sell products in the state. Proposition 12 was written, funded, and marketed by the Humane Society of the United States and their “Prevent Cruelty California” coalition. Right now, only 1% of pork producers comply with the housing requirements of Prop 12.

When it goes into effect in 17 months, a majority of the nation’s pork farmers won’t be allowed to sell their products in California. The American Farm Bureau and the National Pork Producers Council have jointly filed an appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to ask that Prop 12 be ruled invalid. The appeal says that Prop 12 is unconstitutional and seeks to allow California to regulate states outside its governance by requiring producers to abide by the state’s own regulations to do business there.

Protect the Harvest says it is “extremely hopeful” that the NPPC and the Farm Bureau are successful in their appeal.


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