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Farm Bureau says Prop 12 could have implications beyond pork industry

Farm Bureau Senior Counsel for Public Policy Travis Cushman says if California’s Proposition 12 was implemented it could have broader implications for all of US agriculture.  “The precedent it sets outside the pork industry, this type of law could work in any other type of agricultural commodity or product,” he says.  “Where you have one state essentially telling farmers in other states how they must raise their animals or produce their crops.”

The Supreme Court announced on Monday it would hear AFBF and the National Pork Producers Council’s challenge to the rule.  He tells Brownfield the fact that the High Court decided to take up the case is a big deal.  “The Supreme Court takes less than 1 percent of cases that come before it every year,” he says.  “And after having reviewed it eight times, they agreed and said yes, this case will reach that high standard that they seek when reviewing a case.”

Proposition 12 was supposed to go into effect January 1^st, but a California judge stopped its implementation and gave the California Department of Food and Agriculture until six months after its finalized new regulations before the rule could be implemented.  Cushman says no final rules have been published. 

Cushman says a timeline for the hearing has yet to be established.  But NPPC says in the coming weeks the two groups will file their initial brief with the Supreme Court, which could then hear oral arguments in the fall and could render a decision by the end of the year. 

AUDIO: Farm Bureau’s Travis Cushman