Protect The Harvest | States Act against Massachusetts Question 3 to Protect A Free and Fed America™

In a recently filed amicus brief in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, a 13-state coalition that includes Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming, unequivocally lend their support to plaintiffs challenging the constitutionality of Massachusetts’s Question 3, known as the Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act. The legal dispute, denoted as Civil Action No. 1:23-cv-11671-WGY, revolves around the potential repercussions of this legislation on the nation’s agricultural production and food security.

The central issue put forth by the amici curiae is that Question 3 establishes a dangerous precedent that could trigger a “race to the bottom” among states. The states argue that Massachusetts, a jurisdiction with minimal hog farming and pork processing activities, imposes regulations on these food businesses that deviate from well established national standards. The disparity in expertise and economic investment between Massachusetts and major pork-producing states, exemplified by Iowa, highlights the potential effects of enacting legislation without due consultation and consideration of science and fact-based industry practices.

One of the primary concerns raised in the amicus brief is the adverse impact Question 3 could have on out-of-state farmers.