My weekly column: Fighting back against California’s harmful Prop 12 mandates on Iowa hog farmers
On Wednesday, July 23rd, I spoke at a House Agriculture Committee hearing to discuss the harmful impacts of California’s Proposition 12, or Prop 12, on Iowa hog farmers and our rural communities. Enacted in 2018, this notorious state measure is incredibly detrimental to producers in Iowa and nationwide. Since I was elected to Congress, I have been fighting back against this dangerous regulation of our agricultural economy and way of life.
As it stands, Prop 12 demands that pork producers in Iowa, and across the nation, comply with the demands of liberal activists who have weaponized radical California policies against interstate commerce. Last year, my Republican colleagues on the House Agriculture Committee and I passed a Farm Bill that overturned Prop 12, restored consumer choice, and supported Iowa farmers. I remain committed to getting a new, five-year Farm Bill signed into law that repeals Prop 12 and delivers certainty and clarity for our hog farmers.
I was very disappointed that the U.S. Supreme Court decided against hearing the Iowa Pork Producers’ case against California’s Proposition 12 in June. This mandate on Iowa hog farmers increases pork prices for families, makes hog farming needlessly more expensive, harms our rural communities, and threatens our food security. Our producers deserve certainty, especially when trading with domestic partners.
During the Agriculture Committee’s hearing on Prop 12, I invited Matt Schuiteman – a hog farmer from Sioux County – to testify on the harm that this mandate causes. He reiterated the longstanding concerns that members of Congress have been hearing from hog farmers for years—it’s unjust that a minority of Californians can control hog production halfway across the country. Iowa hog farmers are the experts—not the animal rights activists in Los Angeles. Our producers have a much higher stake in the health and wellness of their hogs than coastal elites, and they take this responsibility very seriously. Farmers take great care of their animals and run their operations with pride.
Prop 12 is simply bad policy, and the economic ramifications are widespread. Converting existing sow housing to meet Prop 12 standards costs approximately $3,500 per sow, with national estimates ranging from $1.9 to $3.2 billion to achieve compliance across the industry. Proposition 12-compliant barns cost 40% more to build and have 15% higher operating costs due to reduced productivity. Smaller, family-run operations simply can’t afford these costs. The National Pork Producers Council cites a loss of 5,000 hog farms in the U.S., a trend exacerbated by the high costs of compliance to Prop 12.
It's not just the producers that pay the price of this blunder. Costs incurred by producers will be passed on to families in the grocery stores and supermarkets. When buying Prop 12-compliant pork, consumers will pay a 22% higher wholesale premium on average. Further, loins and bellies will see a 30% premium. This is a senseless price increase on American families and consumers.
This outrageous mandate opens the flood gates to even more government involvement in the free market. Following in lockstep with California, Massachusetts has even proposed their own “Question 3,” which is similar to Prop 12. If Prop 12, Question 3, and similar policies are allowed to regulate interstate commerce, we could be faced with a tidal wave of regulation for regulation’s sake. This is a grave threat to the free-market economic principles our nation was founded upon. As a Republican, I believe that our economy should be free to guide itself, there should not be a small minority—who have never raised hogs—regulating federal interstate commerce nationwide.
In Congress, I will continue to push back against California’s harmful Proposition 12 and be a strong advocate for Iowa farmers and producers.