Save Our Bacon Act Fight Intensifies as Senate Cracks Emerge — Marshall Withdrawal Reshapes the Battle Lines
Prop 12 fight now centers on a fracturing Republican coalition as the Senate weighs whether to keep the provision in its farm bill
The fight over the Save Our Bacon Act has become one of the most contentious fronts in the 2026 farm bill debate, with the provision’s fate now uncertain after a key Republican co-sponsor in the Senate pulled his name from the bill. What began as a dispute over pork production practices tied to California’s Proposition 12 has evolved into a broader test of federal preemption, interstate commerce, and how far Congress should go in overriding state-level agricultural standards.
The legislation and its backers. The Save Our Bacon Act — introduced by Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa) in July 2025 and carried in the Senate as the Food Security and Farm Protection Act by Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) — would bar state and local governments from imposing production standards on livestock raised outside their borders, effectively nullifying California’s Prop 12 and Massachusetts’ Question 3. The provision was folded into the House version of the 2026 farm bill (Sec. 12006 of HR 7567) and passed the House in late April on a largely party-line 224-200 vote. It is backed by the National Pork Producers Council, the Meat Institute, and most major livestock trade groups, who argue Prop 12 lets one state dictate production standards nationwide, raises costs, and sets a precedent that could eventually reach other agricultural sectors.
Marshall’s reversal. That coalition took a hit on June 10, when Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) withdrew his sponsorship of the Senate bill. Marshall had been one of the provision’s most prominent advocates dating back to the 2023 EATS Act, but his office said he’s now prioritizing year-round E15 sales and helping Senate Ag Committee Chairman John Boozman (R-Ark.) get a farm bill across the finish line — a bill Boozman has said won’t include Save Our Bacon language because it lacks the votes to reach 60 in the Senate. NPPC President Bob Brenneman, an Iowa pork producer, called the move “disheartening,” noting Marshall had long been one of the loudest voices arguing Prop 12 threatened interstate commerce. Grassley, for his part, took to the Senate floor the next day to argue Congress still has constitutional authority to act on interstate commerce grounds. The bill still has roughly seven other Republican co-sponsors, but Marshall’s exit is the clearest sign yet of softening GOP support heading into Senate markup.
The opposition campaign. Leading the pushback is the American Meat Producers Association (AMPA), a coalition of independent farmers, ranchers, and meat companies formed in late 2025 and led by President and CEO Holly Bice. AMPA first targeted Marshall directly, booking roughly $530,000 in Kansas TV ads against the provision he co-sponsored — a buy NPPC’s Brenneman said was a factor in Marshall’s decision to pull his name.
Since then, AMPA has scaled up considerably, launching a $30 million television, radio, and digital campaign through a newly formed PAC aimed at Midwest lawmakers ahead of the Senate Ag Committee’s anticipated markup, with the group saying the spending will continue through the fall. Iowa has also become a target: AMPA-funded ads running there accuse Sens. Ernst and Grassley of receiving campaign contributions tied to China in connection with their support for the bill — a claim Brenneman has pushed back on, calling it a distraction from the underlying interstate commerce argument.
AMPA’s case centers on the argument that the legislation would chiefly benefit large, foreign-owned pork conglomerates (a pointed reference to Smithfield Foods’ Chinese ownership) at the expense of independent producers who already invested in Prop 12-compliant systems. AMPA’s effort runs alongside opposition from groups like Animal Wellness Action, Farm Action Fund, and Humane World for Animals, along with a bipartisan group of House members — Reps. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), Andrew Garbarino (R-N.Y.), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), and Jim Costa (D-Calif.) — who tried unsuccessfully to strip the provision from the House bill, and more than 30 Senate Democrats who’ve signed onto a letter opposing it.
What’s next. Boozman is expected to release the Senate’s farm bill draft on June 23 without Save Our Bacon language, but supporters retain the option to offer it as an amendment during committee markup. With Marshall gone and Boozman publicly skeptical, the math for reinserting the provision in the Senate has gotten harder — though NPPC and its allies are likely to keep pressing the issue as the bill moves toward conference. How this resolves will shape not just the future of Prop 12, but the broader question of how much latitude Congress is willing to give states to set production standards that reach across state lines.
