Every pig farmer in the U.S., whether large or small, stands to lose when faced with a patchwork of differing and ever-changing state sow housing laws spurred by California’s Prop 12. The issue goes beyond animal welfare to the root of the Constitution’s interstate commerce regulations and how bending them can break farmers. National Pork Producers Council Vice President Pat Hord testified before the House Agriculture Committee in July and stressed the need for patchwork prevention, even for those like him who have chosen to retrofit their barns to be Prop 12 compliant. Hord said, “Whatever steps we take today for California’s regulations could have to be changed when a new state decides they want a different housing standard.” NPPC recently submitted comments on the adverse effects of extraterritoriality, which is the legal concept that a state’s laws can apply to people or actions outside its borders.
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