Supreme Court agrees to review California law on pork sales

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court said Monday it would review a challenge to a California law that set certain conditions for pork sold in the state.

The case stems from a 2018 ballot measure where California voters approved the nation’s toughest living space standards for breeding pigs. Two agricultural associations challenging the law say almost no farms satisfy those conditions. They say the “massive costs of complying” with the law will “fall almost exclusively on out-of-state farmers" and that the costs will be passed on to consumers nationwide.

The law had a Jan. 1 effective date, but California is currently allowing the continued sale of pork processed under the old rules.

The groups challenging the law are the National Pork Producers Council and the American Farm Bureau Federation. The case is expected to be argued after the court begins its new term in October.