Mon, 17 Oct 2022 04:20:31 CDT
The officers of the National Pork Producers Council were among those in the public gallery of the US Supreme Court this past week when the nine Justices listened to the oral arguments over the legality of California's Proposition 12- which prescribes controversial space requirements for sows, veal calves and egg laying hens. One of those hog farmers was Scott Hays, President Elect for the organization. The Missouri producer talked after this unique experience with Senior Farm and Ranch broadcaster Ron Hays of the Oklahoma Farm Report- saying he anticipated that it would be a once in a lifetime type experience- and it did not disappoint.
Scott Hays says that he came onto the NPPC board shortly after the initial passage of Prop 12- "this is an issue that I have worked on from the very beginning…I feel like I am getting to see it all the way through."
The NPPC officer says California has been antagonistic to the pork producers for years- "California has regulated the pig industry out of the state," adding "that's not by accident- there used to be a pig industry in the state." Hays contends that California wants to impose their values on every other state in the US- "They're trying to impose these arbitrary rules on the rest of us, touting that it's better for the animals or healthier- and it's just not. This is a bunch of people that don't know anything aout raising pigs. If you listen to the Veterinarians and University people and pig farmers themselves, who are really the experts on how to take care of the animals- you know we get up every morning and try to figure out how to make the pig's life better."
Scott Hays believes that the science shows that Prop 12 does not improve the lives of sows or their pigs so "all California was left with was their effort to impose their morals on the rest of the country." Several of the justices questioned the lawyers for California- asking them to explain how their state would respond if another state tried to impose a similar moral judgement on them. Scott Hays says the lawyers for the state had little to say in response. Chief Justice John Roberts questioned the validity of Proposition 12 based on the question of morality.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson also addressed the moral question by saying: “To what extent does California get to control what Iowa does with respect to the housing of its pork?” She asked why California couldn’t do something less burdensome to the industry, like “segregating Iowa’s pork when it comes in, putting a big label over it that says ‘This is immorally produced.’”
Scott Hays tells Ron Hays "At the end of the day- at the end of the hearing- I had the feeling that we did our job here and and the that they get it- they understand where we are coming from and they understand the adverse effects that this is gonna have on the entire country" not just the pork industry."
Listen to the full conversation that Ron Hays has with NPPC President Elect Scott Hays by clicking on the "click to play" link at the bottom of the story.
