Smithfield Foods To Cease Operations at Farmer John Plant This Month

Smithfield Foods, Inc. is ceasing all harvest and processing operations at its Farmer John processing plant in Vernon, California this month.

According to a statement issued by the company during the summer of 2022, the decision was made due to “the escalating cost of doing business in California”. As a result of the closure, the company will reduce its sow herd located in Utah and is “exploring strategic options to exit its farms in Arizona and California”. 

The Vernon plant processed only company-owned hogs. Industry sources estimated the facility's daily processing capacity at roughly 8,000 to 10,000 head...

NPPC Statement on U.S. Supreme Court Oral Arguments on California Proposition 12

The following statement (from Oct. 11) can be attributed to the National Pork Producers Council:

“This is a historic day for American farmers. National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) and American Farm Bureau Federation presented oral arguments on NPPC v. Ross before the U.S. Supreme Court challenging the constitutionality of California Proposition 12. As we’ve contended since 2018, one state should not be able to regulate commerce in another state and set arbitrary standards that lack any scientific, technical, or agricultural basis..."

Farm Bureau, NPPC Present Prop 12 Arguments in Supreme Court

The American Farm Bureau Federation and National Pork Producers Council presented oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday. Micheal Clements shares more on the case that goes back to 2018.

Clements: Farm Bureau and the National Pork Producers Council challenged California’s Proposition 12 in the Supreme Court Tuesday. The case involves a law passed in 2018 that bans the sale of pork from hogs that don’t meet the state’s arbitrary production standards, even if the hogs were raised outside of California. AFBF Deputy General Counsel Travis Cushman says the...

NPPC Latest Capital Update

Letter of Opposition for a Section 301 Investigation on Imports From Mexico

What happened? On Oct. 5, over 20 agricultural and industry associations, including National Pork Producers Council (NPPC), signed a letter urging USTR to reject the petition sent by a group of members of Congress to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) requesting a Section 301 investigation on fresh produce imports from Mexico.

What does this mean? Mexico is the largest value and volume market for U.S. pork. A Section 301 investigation would undermine the relationship with one of our largest agricultural trading...

Pig Farmers to Stand Trial at Supreme Court

On October 11th at the Supreme Court, America’s pork farmers will stand trial.

The formal question before the justices will be the constitutionality of California’s 2018 initiative-passed Proposition 12. If the farmers lose, a state will be allowed to enforce a regulation on out-of-state production methods. Historically, states could regulate only the character and quality of products made elsewhere (via product safety standards, for example), not the means of making them.

But alongside the constitutional question will be public judgment on the morality of American pig farming...

NPPC Statement on SCOTUS Reply Brief to Petitioners on California Proposition 12

Attribute statement to Terry Wolters, NPPC president and owner of Stoney Creek Farms in Pipestone, Minnesota

“Today’s filing of our reply brief to petitioners brings the National Pork Producers Council and the American Farm Bureau Federation one step closer to the Supreme Court hearing our case on how California Proposition 12 violates the U. S. Constitution.

“Ironically, California’s Department of Food and Agriculture also announced today it finally completed the Proposition 12 implementation rules, more than three years after the original statutory deadline. This delay unnecessarily exacerbated..."

CDFA Finalizes Proposition 12 Regulations—What Lies Ahead?

The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) has finalized the Proposition 12 implementation rules, which can be found here. The finalized regulations are similar to the second modified text, which was released in June of this year. 

According to an FAQ on CDFA's website, Proposition 12 is a "ballot initiative passed in 2018 by California voters that prohibits confining farm animals (egg-laying hens, veal calves and breeding pigs) in a cruel manner and prohibits the sale of products (eggs, veal meat and pork meat) from farm animals confined in a cruel manner into California commerce."

The law mandates minimum housing space requirements for breeding pigs, veal calves, and egg-laying hens and was originally set to begin on January 1, 2022. However, a ruling earlier this year delayed Proposition 12 for 180 days after the final rules went into effect...

Missouri Attorney General Urges SCOTUS to Overturn Ruling Upholding California’s Prop. 12

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt joined an amicus brief in National Pork Producers Council v. Karen Ross, urging the United States Supreme Court to overturn the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision upholding California’s Proposition 12. California’s Proposition 12 requires states to comply with California regulations on the confinement of breeding pigs, egg-laying hens, and veal calves in order to sell those products in California.

“Under no circumstances should the state of California be allowed to dictate to Missouri farmers and ranchers how they can raise and..."

NPPC Praises Biden Administration for Standing Up for Consumer Choice and American Farmers

The Biden administration, international trading partners and business groups representing the full scope of the U.S. economy, among others, filed amicus briefs in support of the National Pork Producers Council ahead of the Supreme Court case to review California’s Proposition 12. The state law seeks to ban the sale of pork from pigs that do not meet the state’s arbitrary production standards, including pork from pigs raised on farms outside of California.

“We commend the Biden administration for taking action to stop ill-considered ballot initiatives like..."

NAMI to SCOTUS: Prop 12 Unconstitutional

In an Amicus Brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court, The North American Meat Institute (Meat Institute) has urged the Court to reverse a lower court's judgement upholding California's Proposition 12 (Prop 12 or the law).

"A fundamental premise of our federal system is that each State is a sovereign laboratory of democracy, but only within its own borders," the Meat Institute said in its brief. "As a result, the Constitution denies California the authority to dictate the conditions under which farm animals must be housed outside California's borders...

Supreme Court to Hear NPPC Case Against Prop 12

The U.S. Supreme Court at its Mar. 25 conference agreed to hear a case brought by the National Pork Producers Council and the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) against California’s Proposition 12, which bans the sale of pork from hogs born to sows that weren’t raised according to the state’s “arbitrary” production standards.

“We are extremely pleased that the Supreme Court will consider the constitutionality of Proposition 12, in which California seeks to impose regulations targeting farming practices outside its borders that would stifle interstate and international commerce..."