Save Our Bacon Act Would Preempt State Pork Standards in Farm Bill
A provision backed by corporate pork producers, including foreign-owned Smithfield Foods, would override voter-approved state laws governing pig confinement — raising a federalism question that...
Legislation known as the Save Our Bacon Act, currently under consideration for inclusion in the 2026 Farm Bill, would prohibit individual states from enforcing their own standards governing the sale of pork products produced under conditions that do not meet those states' animal welfare requirements, according to the bill's legislative text as introduced in the 119th Congress. Proponents of the measure, including the National Pork Producers Council, argue that a patchwork of state laws creates an unworkable compliance burden for national producers. Opponents, including family-farm advocates and state-rights groups, contend the bill would nullify ballot measures already passed by voters in California (Proposition 12, 2018) and Massachusetts (Question 3, 2016), both of which set minimum space requirements for farm animals whose products are sold within those states. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld California's Proposition 12 in National Pork Producers Council v. Ross (599 U.S. 641, 2023), ruling 5–4 that the law did not violate the dormant Commerce Clause. The Save Our Bacon Act would achieve through statute what the industry could not achieve through litigation. Smithfield Foods, the world's largest pork processor and a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based WH Group since 2013 — a corporate structure on record with the Securities and Exchange Commission — has been identified by Washington Examiner reporting (June 2026) as among the corporate interests pressing Congress to include the preemption language in the farm bill. Smithfield's federal lobbying disclosures filed under the Lobbying Disclosure Act are publicly searchable at lda.senate.gov; its most recent quarterly filings show active lobbying on agricultural trade and farm bill provisions, though the precise dollar figures for the current reporting period will not be public until the next LDA filing deadline. What remains unknown is whether the Save Our Bacon Act language will be included in the House or Senate version of the Farm Bill markup; the House Agriculture Committee's markup schedule as of June 24, 2026 has not yet been published. The committee's official markup notices, once released, would confirm the provision's status. Separately, it is unknown how individual members of the Agriculture committees have voted or signaled on the preemption provision; member statements entered into the Congressional Record would provide that documentation.