With passage of Proposition 12 in 2018, California voters overstepped constitutional boundaries and effectively hogtied pig farmers across America. Pork producers were faced with a dire choice: either fork out tens of thousands of dollars to comply with California’s mandates or get blacklisted from selling to 15 percent of the nation’s pork market. 

Since Prop 12 went into full effect on Jan. 1, 2024, consumers have been subject to inflated pork prices: the average price per pound of a pork loin in California has risen more than 40 percent. And pig farmers are stuck like a pig in a poke. 

Don’t just take my word for it; recall what a fellow Iowan, former Iowa governor and USDA secretary for a dozen years during the Obama and Biden administrations said about Prop 12. Then-Secretary Tom Vilsack explained to the House Agriculture Committee how Prop 12 sowed ”chaos” in the marketplace.

At that same hearing, House Ag Chairman Glenn Thompson referenced a preliminary USDA finding that costs associated with Prop 12 ”have a more severe impact on smaller independent operations, and that distresses placed upon the entire production and marketing chain will lead to ever-increasing consolidation and concentration of the industry.” 

With the current downturn in the farm economy, the last thing farmers need is more uncertainty, more expenses and more ridiculous regulations.   

Here’s precisely why Prop 12 is bad policy: 

• It ignores scientific research and generations of animal stewardship by farmers and veterinarians that actually improved sow/piglet safety.

• It disrupts market access for trade partners.

• It distorts the free marketplace and creates artificial ”premiums” for compliance with costly government mandates.

• It punishes farmers who can’t afford compliance costs and drives up pork costs for consumers, making it even harder for low-income families to put nutritious, affordable protein on the table. 

Punitive Prop 12 expenses are pigheaded. As work continues in Congress to pass the next Farm Bill, I’m committed to restoring constitutional guardrails and shutting the barn door on California and other states who impose intrusive standards on interstate commerce. 

As a lifelong family farmer and a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, I’m proud to champion rural America and serve as an outspoken advocate for farm families, including Iowa’s pig farmers. Prop 12 undermines their livelihoods and jacks up prices for consumers at the grocery store. 

As Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in the Supreme Court’s ruling, “policy choices like these usually belong to the people and their elected representatives.” Congress has the power to stop the chaos unleashed by Prop 12. It’s time we do so.  

Keeping domestic markets open for business lowers food costs for families and alleviates tight margins facing America’s farmers. During National Agriculture Week, that’s something lawmakers on both sides of the aisle ought to give their whole hog endorsement.

Sen. Charles Grassley, a Republican, represents Iowa.