Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) withdrew his support for the Save Our Bacon Act following a multi-million-dollar ad blitz led by the American Meat Producers PAC. Now, Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-IA), the lead sponsor of the act, is in the crosshairs of the organization’s newest $3-million campaign.
This is the latest targeted phase of a broader, estimated $30-million national advocacy campaign. In addition to targeting Hinson, organizers say the PAC’s campaign will highlight the voting records of Representatives Derrick Van Orden (R-WI), Gabe Evans (R-CO) and Rob Bresnahan (R-PA) leading up to Election Day.
The Legislative Battle over Prop 12
The American Meat Producers Association (AMPA) argues that the Save Our Bacon Act represents a direct threat to American family farmers. According to AMPA President Holly Bice, the bill would override state-level agricultural standards—such as California’s Proposition 12—which have fostered markets for producers who invested in higher-welfare housing systems.
“American farmers shouldn’t be put out of business so that China-owned corporations can gain even more control over our food system,” Bice says. “There was a choice to be made: stand with American family farmers or stand with Chinese interests. We intend to make sure that record is known.”
However, the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) strongly rejects that framing, arguing that federal legislation is essential to prevent a fragmented national marketplace.
“The lawmakers being targeted by this campaign should be commended, not attacked,” says NPPC President Rob Brenneman, an Iowa pig farmer. “They listened to farmers, veterinarians and real agricultural organizations and stood up for a food system guided by science, consumer choice and the expertise of people who actually grow and raise our food.”
Brenneman says the ad blitz is an attempt to distract from the operational realities of Prop 12.
“Prop 12 allows one state to dictate how farmers across the country raise their animals, increases costs throughout the pork supply chain, and threatens to create an unworkable patchwork of state-by-state production mandates,” Brenneman says. “Congress has both the authority and the responsibility to protect interstate commerce and ensure national agricultural policy is not dictated by California elites and activists.”
Questions Over Strategy and Funding
Alliance CEO Hannah Thompson-Weeman says there is limited public transparency around exactly who is funding the American Meat Producers Association’s multi-million-dollar campaign.
AMPA says its “support comes from farmers, ranchers, independent meat companies and Americans who want a diversified food system that a few giant corporations don’t control.”
“We follow every disclosure law, and our PAC’s donors are public through the FEC,” Bice says. “For the organization itself, we do what trade associations across agriculture do, including the groups on the other side of this issue. We don’t publish supporters’ names beyond what the law requires.”
While the Animal Agriculture Alliance takes no official legislative stance on the Save Our Bacon Act, the organization has concerns regarding the strategy and personnel directing AMPA’s efforts.
“What is much clearer is who is helping drive the strategy and messaging,” Thompson-Weeman says.
Thompson-Weeman points out that AMPA leadership and key campaign strategists have deep roots in the animal rights movement:
- Holly Bice previously worked for the Humane Society Legislative Fund and Animal Wellness Action.
- Josh Balk, CEO of The Accountability Board and former Humane Society of the United States campaigner, has publicly described leading the effort to stop the bill.
During a recent New York University webinar, Balk highlighted Marshall’s dropped sponsorship as the campaign’s most significant victory and detailed how their $30-million ad effort and public call-in campaigns were designed to make the legislation politically toxic ahead of the Farm Bill debate.
“The campaign is not limited to debating one piece of legislation,” Thompson-Weeman notes. “Its leaders have been very open about a broader strategy of using state laws, corporate pressure, public campaigns, and political advocacy to change animal production practices nationwide. That is something pig farmers and the broader animal agriculture community should be paying attention to, regardless of their individual production system.”
What’s Next for AMPA?
Bice says AMPA’s formal membership program is just getting started, so formal numbers aren’t available yet for the number of its member producers who have already converted their facilities to comply with Prop 12 or Massachusetts Question 3.
“AMPA’s commissioned an independent economic analysis that found that from 2022 to 2026, the Prop 12-certified breeding herd grew by 359,000 to 428,000 sows,” Bice says. “Farmers invested $483 million to $696 million in renovations and new construction to get there, and as much as $627 million of that would be stranded if Prop 12 were overturned.”
It’s Time for an Honest Ag Policy Debate
As the ad campaign expands into key congressional districts, NPPC affirms that it will continue lobbying lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to address state-level mandates in federal farm policy.
“America’s pig farmers deserve an honest debate about agricultural policy—not misleading and outright false attacks financed by interests claiming to represent farmers while advancing an agenda that threatens animal agriculture,” Brenneman says.
