Farmscape for June 16, 2026

The National Pork Producers Council is expressing its support for a fix to Proposition 12 contained in the Farm Bill proposed by Congress.
The House of Representatives version of the U.S. Farm Bill, the Farm, Food and National Security Act, has passed and the bill now awaits action in the Senate, where the Senate Agriculture Committee is drafting its version.
The proposed bill contains a fix for California's Proposition 12.
National Pork Producers Council CEO Bryan Humphreys, on hand earlier this month for World Pork Expo in Des Moines, says the "Save Our Bacon Act, is intended to address the problems created by Prop 12.

Quote-Bryan Humphreys-National Pork Producers Council:
In 2018, voters in California had an opportunity to vote on a ballot measure that essentially governed what pork products can be sold into the state of California.
It set arbitrary standards on how animals could be housed.
It set arbitrary standards on which pork products qualified and which did not and it created a massive disruption to our industry, yes, but more importantly, it ignored Article 1 of the Constitution because what California is doing at this present moment is regulating outside of their borders.
With that, they are essentially saying, okay, Iowa, if you want to be able to sell product into our state, you have to meet these standards, and yet Article 1 of the Constitution says that Congress shall regulate the commerce among the many states and yet California is attempting to do it.
Now, how does it impact the great folks in Canada?
Canada has to abide by this as well, Mexico, other trading partners that bring pork products into the U.S. have to comply with this.
A number of challenges, not only the constitutional challenge but the challenges with our international trading partners and folks that have to comply with it.
Just as important is the impact to the consumers.
We've seen massive price spikes on pork products in the state of California.
Pork loins and ribs are up 20 precent to 30 percent over the rest of the country.

Humphreys suggests this is a consumer issue, a constitutional issue, a state's rights issue and an international trade issue that needs to be addressed so passage of the Farm Bill is incredibly important.
For more visit Farmscape.Ca.
Bruce Cochrane.

       *Farmscape is produced on behalf of North America’s pork producers