The National Pork Producers Council President Lori Stevermer, a pork producer from Easton, Minn., recently testified on the State of the Livestock Industry before the US House Agriculture Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry.

In her testimony detailing pork producers’ Farm Bill priorities, Stevermer emphasized the need for a federal solution for the problems caused by California Proposition 12.

“California Proposition 12 reaches far beyond California to include farmers in other states – and even other countries,” said Stevermer. “The outcomes of Prop. 12 defy common sense – and create a patchwork of differing state regulations, if Congress doesn’t act.”

“America’s 60,000+ pork producers are grateful House Agriculture Committee Chairman G.T. Thompson addressed Proposition 12 through Sec. 12007 of the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2024, and we encourage the Committee to reinstitute this language in the 2025 Farm Bill,” Stevermer said.

NPPC cites the following complications due to Prop 12:

• Widespread, damaging consequences for farmers and consumers alike.
• Inconsistent stipulations – deeming cooked bacon legal and uncooked bacon illegal, despite both products coming from the same pig.
• Forcing producers thousands of miles away from California to pay for outside regulators to audit their farms.
• Threatening to put farm families out of business by significantly increasing the cost of raising pigs.
• Increasing prices at the grocery store, as much as 41% for certain pork products.

In May 2024, the US House Agriculture Committee passed their bipartisan 2024 Farm Bill, which included 100% of pork producers’ priorities. NPPC is calling for the reintroduction and passage of the same farm bill as quickly as possible.

Stevermer also addressed and emphasized the importance of trade to US agriculture and pork production, noting the critical need for “policies that foster the free flow of goods and expand export markets – primarily through trade agreements.”

Trade policies that allow businesses to trade fairly and with certainty “are critical to the continued success of America’s pork producers, US agriculture, and the overall American economy,” Stevermer said in comments, adding that “the United States needs more comprehensive trade agreements that eliminate or significantly reduce tariff and non-tariff barriers to US exports.”

Source: National Pork Producers Council