January 2022

Sonoma County Farm Bureau President, Jennifer Beretta, addressed Dr. Cox, the Program Manager of the Department of Food and Agriculture to urge the Department to provide a full exemption from Proposition 12 for all junior livestock exhibitions and county fairs.

Sonoma County Farm Bureau knows firsthand the positive impact that youth experiencing agriculture education through hands-on projects has on our community and the future of agriculture. An exemption to Proposition 12 is warranted as youth projects are not the same as commercial livestock production and should not be subject to the same regulations. Restrictions put on the exhibitors and the fairs will become prohibitive to youth agriculture education.

California Proposition 12, the Farm Animal Confinement Initiative, was approved by voters on November 6, 2018. The law addresses minimum confinement requirements for veal calves, breeding pigs, and egg-laying hens. On January 1, 2020, these minimum confinement requirements went into effect for hens and calves. On January 1, 2022, breeding pigs came under this regulation, and the floor space required for hens was increased beyond the amount required 2 years earlier.