I was taken aback by Duane Stateler’s Oct. 11 op-ed, “Pork prices are rising thanks to California — Congress can fix it.” Like Stateler, I am a multi-generation farmer. My family has raised livestock and grain on the same Missouri land for over a century. But although we share a love for farming, we part ways on what’s best for America’s independent hog producers.

California’s Proposition 12, which set higher welfare standards for animals sold in that state, isn’t a threat to farmers like me. In fact, it’s one of the few market opportunities that’s actually helping us stay on our land and make a fair living.

It’s no surprise that Stateler would take this position; as president of the National Pork Producers Council, he represents an organization that calls itself “the global voice for the U.S. pork industry.” In practice, that means advocating for the largest corporate pork producers and processors. But there is another voice in this fight, that of the independent family farmers — the men and women who raise hogs, sheep and cattle on their own land, care for their animals, and keep rural America alive.

California's Proposition 12 doesn’t ban pork production or impose arbitrary rules. It........

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