Niman Ranch, a pork production unit of Perdue Farms, is voicing its support of California Proposition 12, stating that the use of gestation stalls is not necessary in pork production.
Niman Ranch General Manager Chris Oliviero issued a statement about the anti-animal confinement law approved by California voters in 2018, which has received opposition from both pig and egg producers. The statement was made in advance of a Supreme Court hearing of a suit in which the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) asserts that Proposition 12 is unconstitutional because it gives one state the right to regulate animal agriculture production in other states. Niman Ranch filed an amicus brief in support of Prop 12.
“It is too often lost that this is the most consequential animal welfare initiative we have seen in a long time—probably ever for hogs. Prop 12 will lift up the floor of conventional hog production practices to meet the bare minimum of consumer expectations on animal care. Frankly, it's not humane to keep sows in a seven by two-foot crate for weeks or even months at a time. Californians agree,” Oliviero stated.
“It's frustrating that many in the conventional industry have spent the past several years trying to overturn Prop 12 despite the overwhelming support from Californians. They know where consumer demand is heading and they should have been helping farmers convert away from crates rather than fighting the inevitable.”
Niman Ranch, according to its website, has always been compliant with Proposition 12, raising its animals outdoors or in deeply bedded pens without the use of gestation crates.
“There are a lot of hog farmers out there who don’t use gestation crates for ethical reasons. Crate free hog farming can — and is — done every day, as our network of over 600 independent family hog farmers prove,” Oliviero said.
Maryland-based Perdue Farms, which is also the nation’s fifth largest broiler producer and eighth largest turkey producer, acquired the Niman Ranch brand in 2015.
