California Officials Explain Prop 12 Requirements for Pork Farmers

In May 2023, a U.S. Supreme Court ruling affirmed that states could pass laws to protect the health and welfare of animals. In California, Proposition 12 (Prop 12), prohibits the strict confinement of breeding pigs. Prop 12’s standards also include egg-laying hens and veal calves raised in California.

This regulation meant housing adjustments for pork producers, especially California farmers. Since Jan. 2024, all breeding swine farms in California or those selling into the California marketplace have needed to be Prop 12 certified.

Which Pigs Fall Under Prop 12?

According to the USDA Census of Agriculture, the Golden State had a total hogs and pigs inventory of 82,010 in 2022.

Most of California’s pigs are raised on farms in the Central Valley, including along the coastal regions, and Northern and Southern California. According to the California Pork Producers Association, many California pork producers raise pigs commercially for breeding, 4-H and FFA projects, roaster pigs, and direct market sales. Also, many of the state’s agriculture colleges, such as CSU Fresno, UC Davis, and Modesto Junior College, raise and sell pigs.

Prop 12 affects gilts at six months of age or pregnant, older sows that have been bred for commercial breeding to produce pork meat, including a sow’s immediate offspring.

Elizabeth Cox, the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA)’s animal care program manager, said that Prop 12 applies to all commercial breeding pigs in California.

“I think the important thing to remember is the law,” says Cox. “To our regulations, it’s someone keeping breeding pigs, sows, and gilts that will be bred.”

The law also applies to pork producers outside California that have whole pork meat from breeding pigs or the immediate offspring sold in California.

With older sows that are already bred or planned for conception, the CDFA provided the definition of a production cycle: for an older sow and her offspring to be compliant, she needs to be in Prop 12-compliant housing for the duration of her breeding cycle.

“A new production cycle for sows will begin at weaning. She didn’t need to be in compliant housing when she was a gilt, but she can move into Prop 12 housing and she needs to stay there for the duration of her production cycle,” Cox said.

Required Housing Standards

Under the housing requirements for breeding pigs set by the CDFA, pigs are prohibited from any confined enclosures that prevent them from lying down, standing up, extending their limbs, or turning around freely. The enclosure needs to be 24 square feet of usable floor space per breeding pig, according to Prop 12 and CDFA standards.

Producers can calculate the available floor space by dividing an enclosure’s total square footage by the number of breeding pigs confined in the area. Floor space also includes sections that are outdoor pens or pastures that breeding pigs have access to, said Cox.

“We know that not all enclosures are a perfect square or rectangle, but this should guide people in thinking of the space that is accessible at all times by the animals in that specific enclosure,” she said.

Producers must also account for any equipment — such as an electronic self-feeder — that takes away from available floor space.

“We are asking people to rely on the definition of turning around freely. I know not all pigs will be the same size or length, but think about your longest pig from nose to tail,” adds Cox. “That’s her length, and that’s her diameter for a circle as far as how much space she will need to turn around.”

Producers also can keep using their free-access stalls, especially if the area meets Prop 12’s standards. However, the stalls must stay unlocked. If farmers choose to lock their stalls, they will document it and the length of time they keep those stalls locked.

Does this mean that group housing for breeding pigs is required? In short, no, said Cox. Farmers are not required to use group housing to be compliant. However, it may be the alternative producers adopt in their houses to comply with the mandate.

“In reality, that could be an option for many producers to meet the turnaround freely and 24 square feet of minimum floor space requirement,” Cox says.

Treatment and Farrowing Allowances

The regulation does make exceptions for sows and gilts that don’t need to be in compliant housing.

Producers can hold pigs in non-compliant Prop 12 enclosures for individual treatment or veterinary purposes — examinations, treatments, testing, or prevention of animal disease, injury, or harm — administered by a licensed veterinarian. However, producers can only do this for six hours within a 24-hour period. Producers cannot hold a pig in a non-compliant space for more than 24 hours in a 30-day period.

Cox says the decision must come from a licensed professional. “It’s at the discretion of the herd veterinarian, who has a valid veterinary-client-patient relationship with the pork producer in regard to confining an individual breeding pig to a non-compliant enclosure under this exception.”

The law includes exceptions for traditional farrowing crates. A sow or gilt can be moved into a farrowing crate or an enclosure that doesn’t meet Prop 12 standards five days before her expected farrowing date. She can stay in that space while nursing piglets, but producers must move her out and back into Prop 12-compliant areas when their piglets are weaned.

Certification and Renewal

Producers may be Prop 12 certified through the CDFA or an accredited third-party agent.

Agents visit an applicant’s farm and walk through houses to validate that breeding sows and gilts are kept in pens or spaces that meet Prop 12 standards. The visit includes a review of records of protocols, inventory numbers, facilities, and transactions of acquiring animals. Producers are required to keep records on any individual sows and gilts that were kept in non-compliant spaces, such as for farrowing or individual treatment. The documents must include details on how long they were kept in that space and veterinary notes.

However, not all out-of-state pork producers must undergo certification to comply with California’s regulation.

“Locations of commercial breeding pigs intended for the California market need to be certified, but not all the other production units in the supply chain,” said California State Veterinarian Annette Jones.

Producers can be a “split operation”: a farm raising Prop 12 compliant and non-compliant breeding pigs. When agents visit “split operation” farms, farmers need to show agents additional record-keeping that there are procedures in place to keep compliant and non-compliant breeding pigs and their offspring separate, said Cox.

Cox and Jones said that farmers have opportunities to make corrections to non-compliant issues.

“It’s going to be between the certifying agent and the pork producer as far as how to correct things and then demonstrate to the certifying agent that it has been corrected. Then, they can move forward,” said Jones.

Compliant producers receive a certificate for their records to show buyers or distributors. Compliance is renewed annually, and again, includes on-site inspection and a review of records by the farm’s certifying agent.

Producers can also be a distributor. Certification as a producer carries over for farmers selling directly to consumers at farmer’s markets and online sales inside and outside California, including exhibitors selling market hog projects.

CDFA rolled out several guides to help producers with implementing Prop 12 standard in their breeding houses. Those guides are listed below.

For more, producers should visit cdfa.ca.gov.