News

Farmers surveyed uncertain about Prop 12

Amid ongoing concerns about California’s Proposition 12, farmers were surveyed about the likelihood of the recent Supreme Court ruling being overturned by Congress as part of a new farm bill.

Jim Mintert, the principal investigator of the Purdue University-CME Group Ag Economy Barometer, says producers were split in their responses.

“Twenty-five percent of the people in the survey thought it’s at least somewhat likely that Congress would do something to overturn California’s Prop 12,” he says. “On the flip side, 36 percent thought it’s at least somewhat or very unlikely Congress would do anything in that regard.”

Prop 12 mandates minimum housing standards for pork that would be sold in California.

He tells Brownfield, “it’s not a 50/50 kind of a split, but nevertheless there’s a lot of uncertainty there with respect to whether or not Congress might do anything in respect to Prop 12 and the impact it’s having on pork production.”

The Ag Economy Barometer is a monthly national survey of 400 U.S. ag producers.

Audio: Jim Mintert