OPINION:
As a former longtime resident of California, I agree that the Golden State should not dictate farm management to farmers in other states (“California shouldn’t dictate how Iowa farmers do their job,” web, March 26).
Iowa pork producers practically wrote the book on science-based farm management of hogs. It is astonishing that California’s elitist animal rights activists, who know nothing about pork management, would enforce a nonscientific political agenda on Iowa farmers. When Sacramento proposed the commerce-restrictive Proposition 12, then-Attorney General Kamala Harris said she would enforce its wide-ranging implications for the U.S. farm economy.
California voters promoted Ms. Harris to the U.S. Senate and the vice presidency. Based on her lackluster performance in the White House, her judgment about Prop 12 should be reversed by Congress. If Rep. Ashley Hinson, Iowa Republican, wants to know why House Democrats oppose her bill to stop California’s interference in her state’s farm economy, Ms. Harris is the reason.
I urge Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, an Iowan, to talk to President Biden about the unfairness of Prop 12 to Iowa’s pork producers and rural economy. Mr. Biden could issue an executive order suspending Prop 12. If Mr. Vilsack fails to convince Mr. Biden, farmers of all states should vote Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris out of office in November.
JAMES PATTERSON
Washington
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