Senate Agriculture Committee Expected to Drop 'Save Our Bacon' Provision from Farm Bill

What the Save Our Bacon Act Would Do

The Save Our Bacon Act, which passed as part of the House farm bill in April 2026, would bar any state from setting animal housing conditions for livestock not physically raised within that state's borders.

The practical target is California's Proposition 12, a 2018 ballot measure that bans gestational crates for pregnant sows and requires pork sold in California to come from pigs born to sows given at least 24 square feet of space. Massachusetts' Question 3 sets comparable standards. Together, according to Animal Wellness Action, more than 10 million Americans voted for those measures.

Opponents of Prop 12 took the law all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. They lost. A conservative majority upheld California's authority to set its own humane-treatment and food-safety standards, according to Animal Wellness Action.

Where the Senate Stands as of June 14, 2026

Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman John Boozman, R-Ark., has signaled he will release a farm bill in June that omits the Save Our Bacon language, according to Sentient via KNSI Radio. Boozman cited the reality that no Senate Democrats support it and a significant number of Republicans oppose it too.

Boozman declined a request for comment, per KNSI.

The situation shifted further on June 11 when Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., the provision's lead Senate sponsor, withdrew his support, according to Animal Wellness Action. Marshall was the bill's primary Senate author in the previous Congress. His departure strips the provision of its most credible Senate champion.

The Save Our Bacon Act had only 23 cosponsors in the 435-member House, according to Animal Wellness Action. That math alone signals how thin the coalition was.

The Industry Is Not Monolithic

The strongest argument for the Save Our Bacon Act comes from hog farmers outside California who argue Prop 12 imposes one state's regulatory preferences on the entire national supply chain. A farmer in Iowa or North Carolina bears the cost of retrofitting facilities to meet California standards if they want access to the California market.

Brent Hershey, a Prop 12-certified farmer and owner of Hershey Ag in Pennsylvania, told Sentient the fight has split the industry deeply. "It's terrible, and it is absolute civil war in the pig industry," Hershey said. He has traveled to Washington at least five times to lobby lawmakers on the issue.

The National Pork Producers Council backs the Save Our Bacon Act. So does Smithfield Foods, the country's largest pork processor, a company owned by Hong Kong-based WH Group. Animal Wellness Action frames Smithfield's China ownership as a central problem with the legislation, arguing that Congress would be helping a foreign-owned corporation nullify American ballot results. The ownership structure is a documented fact.

Thousands of rank-and-file pig farmers and several major industry companies have gone on record opposing the Act, according to Animal Wellness Action.

A Decade of Losses for the Pro-Crate Side

Animal Wellness Action reports that opponents of state animal welfare laws have lost in court 23 consecutive times, lost at the federal legislative level in both 2014 and 2018 farm bill cycles, and lost at the ballot box five consecutive times. The Supreme Court outcome is independently verifiable.

The Washington Post's opinion section characterized the Save Our Bacon Act as harmful to both animal welfare and state rights, though that piece does not add new factual ground beyond the policy debate already underway.

The Farm Bill's Larger Clock

The 2026 farm bill is not only about pigs. The bill covers rural health, nutrition programs, crop insurance, and a wide range of agricultural policy. The previous farm bill expired in 2023 and has been running on annual extensions. The current extension expires September 30, 2026, according to the Washington Post.

Boozman's committee still needs to complete markup. Senators retain the procedural option to introduce an amendment reinserting the Save Our Bacon language during that process, and KNSI reports that multiple contentious provisions remain actively negotiated. Marshall's withdrawal and Boozman's public posture make that path significantly harder, but it is not closed.

Whether Boozman's base bill can hold together enough Senate Republican votes to clear the filibuster threshold before the September 30 deadline remains an open question, with or without a Prop 12 amendment surfacing during markup.