Hog building. (ISU extension photo)
A federal judge has turned down a challenge to California’s looming law on animal confinement.
What’s known as Proposition 12 will go into effect in January. It bans California businesses from selling pork from pigs that were confined in what it calls “a cruel manner,” or pens with less than 24 square feet of space for each breeding hog.
Iowa pork producers argued compliance would sharply boost costs, but Judge C.J. Williams ruled there was no proof California intended to harm Iowa producers when voters passed Prop 12. He sided with the motion from California officials and dismissed the case.