Items Tagged with 'animal welfare'

Organic groups are urging USDA to maintain its organic animal‑welfare requirements as the agency considers requests for regulatory review. 

The federal government is challenging Michigan’s cage-free egg law, claiming it is unconstitutional and has raised prices for consumers. But Michigan egg farmers who invested heavily to comply with the law would rather the administration focus on a vaccine for highly pathogenic avian influenza.

Fourteen House Republicans have come out against including language addressing California's Proposition 12 in the skinny farm bill, complicating a push by pork producers and other ag groups to overturn the 2018 law.

Senate Republicans are planning to put the first fiscal 2026 appropriations bills on the floor this week, testing Democrats over the GOP's successful rescission of $9 billion worth of FY25 spending. A key Agriculture Committee nominee also will get a confirmation hearing this week.

Some farm bill programs, including increased commodity program spending, may be rolled into the massive budget reconciliation Republicans are crafting, but a legislative fix for California’s Proposition 12 remains on hold until Congress can consider a standalone farm bill. 

In this opinion piece, hog producers Josh Coombs and Reggie Strickland argue consumers and farmers would benefit from a farm bill provision that would stop California from enforcing Prop 12 requirements on out-of-state pork production.

In this opinion piece, Will Coggin of the Center for Consumer Freedom argues that laws like California Proposition 12 and Massachusetts Question 3 are hurting consumers while taking critical production decisions away from farmers. 

A federal judge has upheld a state law in Massachusetts banning the sale of pork that comes from the offspring of sows raised in gestation crates.

Animal rights activists are trying to make Sonoma County, California, which is legendary the world over for its wine, the first county in the nation to ban concentrated animal feeding operations by a public vote.