Pork producers ‘deeply disappointed’ in Senate farm bill

Pork producers say they’re “deeply disappointed” that U.S. Senate Democrats did not address California’s Proposition 12 in the proposed farm bill they released this week.

That animal welfare law restricts the sale of products in California from animals raised using specific types of animal confinement systems, including from breeding pigs that do not have space to move around in their confinements.

Iowa pork producers have said they face investing millions of dollars to modify their operations if they want to sell bacon and other pork products in one of the nation’s largest consumer markets.

The Prop 12 ballot initiative went into effect earlier this year and comes at a time when hog farmers experienced large losses due to a combination of factors, including higher input costs, lower hog prices and oversupply.

Michigan Democrat Debbie Stabenow, chair of the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee, unveiled the committee’s draft of a new farm bill Monday, just weeks before Congress adjourns and a little more than a month before funding for many farm programs ceases after Dec. 31 without another extension or passage of a new bill.

The comprehensive package of legislation supports several key farm and safety net programs, like crop insurance, as well as agriculture research, rural development, conservation projects and food assistance for low-income families. It is supposed to be updated every five years, but partisan gridlock got in the way, forcing Congress to extend the 2018 bill another year. The extensions to the previous bill expired in September.

“Pork producers have continually spoken up about the negative impacts of this issue, and it is a shame these conversations were disregarded,” National Pork Producers Council President Lori Stevermer, a pork producer from Minnesota, said in a statement.

The council urged both chambers of Congress to swiftly consider and pass a farm bill this year that includes a fix to Proposition 12.

The House Agriculture Committee released its version of the farm bill in May, but it has yet to be brought for a vote by the full House. The House bill includes language similar to a bill introduced by Iowa Republican U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson that ensures Iowa hog confinement operators can sell their pork nationwide.