DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A California law approved by voters in 2018 that promises to get breeding pigs out of narrow cages will technically take effect Saturday.
That's after years of delays, and warnings that the rules could lead to price spikes and pork shortages.
But even after the law goes into effect, California grocery shoppers won't know for a while if pork chops they buy came from a pig whose mother was confined in a tiny crate. That’s because the state recently agreed to allow pork slaughtered before July 1 to be sold in California markets and restaurants for the rest of the year.
The pork and grocery industries welcomed the move, but others expressed exasperation at another delay.
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“This development compounds the instability and confusion in the marketplace, while punishing the small independent family farmers and those companies that have been prepared to abide by the law,” Chris Oliviero, general manager of meat company Niman Ranch, said in a statement.
Niman stands to benefit from the law because it contracts with farmers that have long met California’s new animal welfare rules.
But even backers of the tougher rules recognize a silver lining in the delay: Giving producers, grocers and restaurants more time to adjust will reduce the chance of shortages. Josh Balk, who led the Humane Society of the United States’ campaign to pass the law, said “there’s going to be a smooth transition for the pork industry.”
The measure also included space requirements for egg-laying hens and veal calves. But while those producers complied, the pork industry filed legal challenges. They argued that California, which consumes roughly 13% of the nation’s pork but produces almost none of it, shouldn’t dictate how farmers mainly in the Midwest and North Carolina should raise hogs.
