The States of South and North Dakota, Nebraska and Iowa along with 16 others have filed a friend of the court brief supporting ag group’s challenges of California’s Proposition 12. That measure limits animal housing and dictates stringent rules on that that would impact other states if upheld. Nebraska Pork Producer’s Association’s Executive Director Al Juhnke says California has a right to pass a law regulating their state’s producers but not producers outside their borders.

He says the State Attorneys General battling Proposition 12 think California is violating the Commerce Clause of the US. Constitution. Juhnke also says that pork producers outside California are treating their animals properly and past court rulings have held up their practices.

Juhnke says the ag groups have a good chance of prevailing in their court challenge given all the states’ that have now joined in.

Should Proposition 12 hold up, the Agriculture groups believe it’ll lead to a patchwork of regulatory regions.