U.S. pork producers voiced their disappointment when the 2024 farm bill text released by Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), chairwoman of the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, didn’t include a Prop 12 solution. The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) issued a statement representing pork producers from across the country.
“Though America’s pork producers appreciate Chairwoman Stabenow’s efforts to publish farm bill text, this is simply not a viable bill, as it fails to provide a solution to California Prop. 12,” says Lori Stevermer, NPPC president and a pork producer from Easton, Minn. “Pork producers have continually spoken up about the negative impacts of this issue, and it is a shame these conversations were disregarded.”
According to NPPC, it had secured 100% of pork producers’ priorities in the House Agriculture Committee-passed bipartisan 2024 farm bill in May.
The next month, producers once again secured all policy priorities in Senate Agriculture Committee Ranking Member John Boozman’s version of the 2024 farm bill framework.
NPPC says it urges both chambers of Congress to swiftly consider and pass a farm bill this year that includes a fix to California Proposition 12, a state law that places arbitrary housing standards on the pork industry, creating uncertainty for pork producers as they look to continue their operations to the next generation.
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