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 Nov. 15.
That animal welfare law restricts sales of products in California from animals raised using specific types of confinement systems.
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 Nov. 15, 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, leading 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 Proposition 12 fix.
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.
The language prohibits state and local governments from imposing standards on the production of livestock over state lines to prevent barriers to interstate commerce. States and local governments still would be permitted to regulate production within their own borders.
Iowa Republican U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, who sits on the Senate Agriculture Committee, cosponsored companion legislation in the Senate and worked to include it in the Senate GOP farm bill framework released in June.
Stabenow said Senate Democrats released a framework for a farm bill in the spring, hoping to “spark serious negotiations” to put forward a bipartisan bill that could pass the House and the Senate.
“This is a robust bill that puts more farm in the farm bill for all of our commodities but not at the expense of rural communities and American families that are critical to holding the farm bill coalition together,” she said during a floor speech Nov. 15. “It provides farmers with the certainty of a five-year farm bill — so they can plan for the future — and the assistance they need to manage the urgent needs they have right now.”
Iowa Republican U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, speaking to reporters Nov. 16, called Senate Democrats’ timing on the release of their bill “disappointing and unrealistic.”
“It’s clear there is not enough time” to approve a new farm bill in the lame-duck Congress before the year ends, he said.
He said he expects Congress to pass a short-term extension into the New Year and work quickly to pass a new five-year farm bill in 2025 when Republicans control the House, Senate and White House.
The Iowa Farm Bureau on Nov. 15 highlighted the need to pass a new farm bill to avoid significant interruptions in many critical programs. A Farm Bureau analysis estimates a sharp downturn in the agricultural economy could lead to more than 11,000 jobs losses in the state.
“This analysis underscores why a farm bill is so important. Farmers need assurances as they try to balance economic uncertainty,” Iowa Farm Bureau President Brent Johnson, a Calhoun County farmer, said in a statement.
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