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Indiana Farm Bureau has signed on to a letter sent to U.S. House Agriculture Committee Chairman G.T. Thompson and Ranking Member David Scott, asking for a fix to California’s Proposition 12 to be included in the 2024 farm bill.

The farm bill that passed out of the House Agriculture Committee does include such a fix, and Farm Bureau is hoping that bill will soon be voted on by the full House, said Brantley Seifers, INFB national affairs director.

Initiated by the American Farm Bureau Federation and the National Pork Producers Council, the letter urges Congress to include a provision addressing this issue in any farm bill reauthorization to “prevent an unworkable patchwork of 50 conflicting state laws throughout the country that snarl interstate commerce.”

Prop 12 was passed in 2018 as a California ballot measure, and it prohibits within the state of California the sale of pork, veal and eggs produced from animals not housed according to the state’s arbitrary animal welfare requirements.

In May 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that only Congress has the authority to step in and protect American agriculture from the regulatory chaos posed by such laws.

A particularly troubling aspect of the issue is that California accounts for almost 15% of the national market, which means that unless Congress acts, this will give packers and producers little choice but to find a way to work within the law.

“Prop 12 has caused uncertainty for pork producers in Indiana, especially for our small and mid-sized farmers,” said Randy Kron, INFB president. “Congress now has an opportunity to make this right by inserting language into a reauthorized farm bill. We’re hoping they do what’s best for farmers and consumers by preventing a patchwork of 50 different state laws that interfere with interstate commerce.”

Hundreds of ag organizations around the country signed on to the letter. Other Indiana ag organizations also signed on, as did county Farm Bureaus in Fayette, Franklin, Grant, Howard, Jefferson, Johnson, Kosciusko, Perry, Warren and Warrick counties.

 “As the Supreme Court’s decision and Secretary Vilsack made clear: only Congress has the authority to prevent ‘chaos’ in the marketplace and provide farmers the certainty they need,” the letter says. “If Congress fails to act, the chaos from a segmented market will drive consolidation and force American family farmers out of business, as the rest of agriculture remains exposed.”

See the full letter by clicking here.