US meat, poultry producers not ready to comply with animal-rights laws

Food processing trade groups are saying they’re not ready for the implementation of animal welfare statutes in California and elsewhere on Jan.1, and are calling for an extension.

Passed by voters in 2018, California’s Proposition 12 requires specified minimums of personal space for hogs and chickens when they’re confined, before their meat or other products can be sold in California.

The pork industry is denouncing the increased required space for pregnant sows in Iowa and other states from the usual average of about 14 square feet to at least 24 square feet.

As a justification for the delay of its implementation, the pork industry and others in the supply chain are saying that the state agricultural department hadn’t promulgated final regulations for the law.