Proposition 12 isn’t a partisan issue, says Matt Grill, senior director of congressional relations for the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC). He believes that’s one of the most important things that came out of the House Agriculture Committee’s recent hearing to examine the implications of Proposition 12.
“A full committee hearing on a single topic, even one as big and important as Prop 12, doesn’t happen every day,” Grill told AgriTalk’s Chip Flory. “NPPC is extremely grateful for Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson putting such a spotlight on the issue. What we know is that there are still a lot of issues in rural America that need to be addressed in a farm bill.”
Whether you are Prop 12 compliant or not compliant, Grill says there are complications to consider.
“From Chairman Thompson to Secretary Rollins and President Trump to President Biden and Secretary Vilsack to ranking member Angie Craig, any true representative of farm country knows that Proposition 12 is a problem for producers,” Grill says. “We understand that there’s this bipartisan attention, and we need to get to that bipartisan solution.”
One of the biggest issues coming up in “Farm Bill 2.0” is Prop 12.
“We’re glad that the committee is out here doing their due diligence, doing serious work on an issue that is so critical to agriculture,” Grill adds.
It is clear in the Constitution that Congress has the authority to regulate interstate commerce, he points out. The Supreme Court decided that Congress needed to act if something was going to be done about Prop 12.
“In the majority opinion, Justice Gorsuch said, and everyone agrees, that Congress has the authority to regulate the interstate commerce of pork, as they have done on many other subjects,” Grill says. “To say, ‘Well, the Supreme Court has dealt with this, therefore Proposition 12 is all good and upheld,’ is not the full truth of what the Supreme Court decided exactly.”
We Need a Farm Bill Now
The pork industry is still hoping for a legislative fix to Prop 12.
“NPPC was successful in working with Chairman Thompson to include and protect language that would have provided legislative certainty to producers (while letting California keep Prop 12 for their own producers),” Grill says. “NPPC has no problem with that. We worked hard with the chairman to protect that provision. Now, as we all know, the Farm Bill never made it through last Congress.”
Although some farm bill provisions have been handled in the One Big Beautiful Bill, Grill says NPPC is still waiting on Farm Bill 2.0.
“There are a lot of things from crop insurance and reference prices to animal health funding, that NPPC secured, and we’re very grateful for in the One Big Beautiful Bill,” he says. “But there’s a lot out there that doesn’t have to do with money, but has everything to do with rural America. We’re pushing for that Farm Bill 2.0. It’s important, hopefully we see some action in the fall. This is something that Chairman Thompson is not letting go.”
Common Sense Solution
“The bottom line is you can’t have a 50-state patchwork,” he says. “There is bipartisan agreement on that. That’s the No. 1 thing that NPPC needs to solve.”
NPPC believes Congresswoman Ashley Hinson is trying to strike the right tone in the Save Our Bacon Act that takes the provision from the last farm bill and makes that standalone legislation, he explains.
“This is a complicated subject,” Grill says. “We saw that on full display. The Congresswoman is trying to strike the right tone, just like the chairman. She protects states’ rights. She believes in states’ rights. But she also believes in common sense and making sure that an industry has the certainty it needs, so that everyone’s protected, consumers or producers.”
NPPC Vice President Pat Hord was one of the six who testified at the hearing. He has Prop 12 compliant pork production, but like those who are not compliant, he fears that his investment is not secure if other states can change the rules at any time.
“No one’s protected until we solve that issue,” Grill says. “If one state can dictate producers’ behavior outside of their state, it creates a real problem. You may like the premium you get, but the risk of uncertainty can be so great. And remember, that premium is not promised.”
