California's A Mess, And It's Not My Fault, Part III

By Rich Kozlovich 

 

There's a lot of talk about so goes California so goes the nation.  Well, I'm not sure this holds true any longer.  California has been attempting to impose their values and views on the nation via economics.  

 

"Do what we want, or you can't sell your products in our state"

 

They've impacted car manufacturing over the years and now they're going to try and force farmers outside of California to change how they produce food.  And while I have a degree of sympathy as to how large corporations treat animals, it still remains that treatment isn't illegal.  Perhaps it should be, even I'm sympathetic with that, and unlike all these leftist misfits, I'm not agriculturally ignorant.  I grew up on a farm.  But the fact is, it isn't illegal, and that's the issue.

If I was a farmer I would drop California like a stone, and If I'm a huge corporate farmer, I would have separate operations just for California, and make them pay for it! Big time.  Also, corporate agriculture could create an entirely separate legal entity as an agricultural co-op just for California, and again, make them pay .... big time.  Is that a monopoly? I don't think so because they can still buy agricultural products from a host of other producers, but are those producers willing to cut their throats to appease California's misfits?  Maybe, then again, maybe not. 

How about a resistance movement among the states that passes legislation criminalizing California for preventing the sale of any legal product in California as restraint of trade between the states, which is an issue that falls under the purview of the Congress. 

At the beginning of 2021 California started enforcing a animal welfare law passed in 2018 requiring,  more space for breeding pigs, egg-laying chickens and veal calves. 

National veal and egg producers are optimistic they can meet the new standards, but only 4% of hog operations now comply with the new rules. Unless the courts intervene or the state temporarily allows non-compliant meat to be sold in the state, California will lose almost all of its pork supply, much of which comes from Iowa, and pork producers will face higher costs to regain a key market. (SCOTUS upheld the law)

Okay, so what's the big deal?  They can buy their pigs from California pig farmers, right?  After all there are a lot of pig farmers in California, in fact it's claimed there are pig farmers in every California county.  So, why do they need to buy out of state?   It's claimed almost all of it's pork supply come from Iowa, so clearly, there's more to this story than I know, and I can't find anything on it, so, I'll just have to leave it there.   But the fact is all these California pig farmers aren't capable of producing a lot of pigs, and certainly not enough to meet the needs of their state.  

Why? 

• Oh California! You Are a Mess! And It's Not My Fault 
• California is a Mess, And it's Not My Fault, Part II