(Radio Iowa) – Pork industry leaders meeting this week in Des Moines say they’re hoping the Farm Bill working its way through Congress addresses California’s animal welfare law. It requires pork sold in California to come from breeding pigs with at least 24 square feet of space so they can sit, stand and move around. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the law last year. Chase Adams is the assistant vice president of domestic policy for the National Pork Producers Council.  “We just need to ensure there’s some certainty out there for producers,” Adams says.

The Farm Bill developed by the U-S House Ag Committee would prevent one state from dictating how pork producers in other state operate. “It essentially says that no state can ban the sale of a product produced out of that state’s borders based on an arbitrary standard,” Adams says, “so, we’re really pleased with that.” National Pork Producers Council president Lori Steverman, a farmer in southern Minnesota, is hoping the same language ends up in the SENATE Ag Committee’s proposed Farm Bill.

“I do think that congress wants to come away with something that they can say they’ve done. I think it will be challenging to go home to their districts and hear from their constituents: ‘You didn’t really do anything,'” she says. “I hope that puts some pressure on them to move ahead then.”

The two-day World Pork Expo at the Iowa State Fairgrounds wrapped up last (Thursday) night.