California in D.C., Proposition 12 Style
With California Ag Today, I am Haylie Shipp on the Ag Information Network.
California in D.C., Proposition 12 Style
Almost 100 pork producers from across the country are in Washington D.C. this week as part of a fly-in hosted by the National Pork Producers Council. NPPC President Lori Stevermer says California’s Proposition 12 is a big part of their discussion…
“Prop 12 has been a challenge and an issue that I have dealt with my whole time on the board. And so we are looking forward to the farm bill as finding a federal solution for Prop 12. That's what the Supreme Court said. It's an issue, and it said that Congress needs to fix it. So, we're looking to Congress to fix it. And as we talk about the situation, the comments that I hear from producers are, ‘We don't want a patchwork of regulations across the country.’”
And, Lori says, it’s more than farmers taking note.
“Some of the things that we were concerned about with Prop 12 and how it would affect consumers, we're seeing come to fruition. There was a study that was done by the USDA Office of Economics, and we're seeing prices of select pork products 20 percent higher in California now that Prop 12 was in effect versus before Prop 12. We're also seeing consumption of fresh pork declining eight to 10 percent. So higher prices, lower availability, is not the right situation in California, especially for those individuals that already have concerns about food availability and food affordability.”
National Pork Producers Council President Lori Stevermer.
