Niman Ranch, a subsidiary of Perdue Farms Inc., filed an amicus brief in support of California’s Proposition 12 with the US Supreme Court (SCOTUS). Perdue Farms is no stranger to initiating or supporting differentiated marketing positions in their meat and poultry businesses. Witness the fact that they were the first chicken company to adopt a no antibiotics ever policy in the raising of their chickens and soon 21 out of 22 other chicken industry companies followed suit.

Perdue’s leap of faith when they announced they were going antibiotic free led to a sea change for the company, but more so for the industry. Perdue’s actions spurred over 90% of the chicken industry's participant companies to change.

Now, Niman/Perdue has staked out a position supporting Prop 12, which outlaws constrictive hog gestation stalls, among other animal protein restrictive raising practices. Niman’s practices aren’t self-certified as are many differentiated meat and poultry companies. It’s hog raising practices are monitored and verified by the independent agency, Certified Humane®, a leader in humane food animal raising and handling standards and practices.

According to Wikipedia, Prop 12 was a California ballot proposition in that state's general election on Nov. 6, 2018. The self-titled Prevention of Cruelty to Farm Animals Act passed by a vote of about 63% Yes to 37% No. The proposition established new minimum requirements to provide more space for egg-laying hens, breeding pigs, and calves raised for veal sold in the state, regardless of the state where it was produced. Attempting to mandate hog production practices for states outside of California is the bone of contention for the mainstream meat and poultry industry, not to mention the loss of California pork sales exacerbated by expected higher prices when the law is enforced.

The egg industry has largely complied with the law. Both Tyson and Hormel are rebuilding production facilities to be Prop 12 compliant. However, despite the resounding success at the ballot box, the pork industry unsuccessfully sued to block implementation of the law. In June 2021, SCOTUS rejected a lawsuit from the North American Meat Institute (NAMI) to stop the law. NAMI had argued that Prop 12 violated the Commerce Clause of the US Constitution, but this argument was rejected. The law was implemented on Jan.1, 2022.

Unfortunately, our meat and poultry industry has been rife with those who have tried to mandate that all who raise animals for food do so to the lowest common denominator. Those who dared to step outside of the ordinary and do something different were castigated. But, many of those who wanted to do it differently persevered, resulting in a plethora of natural, organic, grass-fed, free-range ... and now there are those who want to raise hogs and layer hens in larger spaces than those raised conventionally. Did these outliers somehow harm the mainstream conventional meat and poultry companies? I don’t think so. What I witnessed was these “outlier” companies returning more dollars to the farmers and ranchers while giving consumers a wider choice of animal proteins.

Let me give you another example of a brave change for a meat company. Many years ago, a decision was made in the hallowed halls at Oscar Mayer that led them to summarily abandon all the of their fresh pork production and sales efforts. Instead, they said they were going to concentrate on the production and marketing of processed meat,not fresh pork. And, they did. The result was Oscar Mayer bacon becoming the No. 1 selling bacon in the US while being the highest priced bacon. Oscar Mayer’s decision to get out of the fresh pork business led them to become the US’s preeminent processed meats marketers. But, it wasn’t just the company making that decision; it was the man, Oscar Mayer, who boldly made it. Now that’s leadership.

Can we expect more “sea changes” in our meat and poultry industry as the old guards are replaced by new leaders unafraid to change what was once considered sacrosanct? Do you know of any?

California’s Prop 12: Niman/Perdue agrees

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