The Farm Bill is moving to the U.S. Senate, after recently passing the vote in the House. Many of our supporters contacted their Representatives and made their voices heard, but unfortunately, this measure still moved on. It’s more important than ever to speak up for animals as this Bill goes to the Senate. The good news is that it’s super easy to participate and take action now. We’ll show you how.
What Is the Farm Bill?
The Farm Bill is a huge omnibus bill with a comprehensive scope, that passes through Congress roughly every five years. The Bill is a package deal that covers all sorts of issues like farm subsidies, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), crop insurance, rural development, and more. This year’s version of the Farm Bill also contains provisions that could change protections for farmed animals in our state. The Bill, if passed, could have serious consequences for animals, people, and communities.
Why Minnesota’s Voice Is So Important
Minnesota has already made meaningful progress for animals this year. Advocates in our community have advanced protections for dogs and cats from puppy mills, and Hennepin County continues work on its plant-based-by-default food policy for county events.
But at the federal level, those kinds of hard-won protections are under threat because of this Farm Bill.
Both of Minnesota’s Senators serve on the Senate Agriculture Committee, which is writing its version of the Farm Bill, and Senator Amy Klobuchar is the committee’s ranking member.
That gives Minnesota an unusually powerful role in stopping this dangerous provision before it moves forward. It also means that we need to focus our messaging on local control, public health, and Minnesota’s economy.
What Is the Save Our Bacon Act?
On April 30, the U.S. House passed a Farm Bill that includes the so-called “Save Our Bacon” Act — a provision designed to wipe out hundreds of state and local laws regulating the sale of animal products within state borders. Because the Farm Bill is considered must-pass legislation, pork industry lobbyists were able to tuck this controversial language into a much larger bill, despite broad bipartisan opposition.
Now the fight has moved to the Senate — and Minnesota is not just any state in this process. With both MN Senators on the Agriculture Committee, and Senator Klobuchar serving in a top leadership role, calls from Minnesota constituents could carry particular weight at exactly the right moment.
What’s at Stake for Animals
For decades, animal advocates have exposed the routine cruelty of extreme confinement in industrial farming. In the pork industry, pregnant pigs are often kept in gestation crates so small they cannot even turn around for months at a time.
When the public learned about these practices, voters took action. Across the country, Americans from across the political spectrum supported measures to prohibit extreme confinement. In 2018, California voters passed Proposition 12, which set stronger standards for the sale of animal products from animals raised in intensive confinement.
Proposition 12 is now widely seen as one of the strongest farm animal protection laws in the world, and it has already helped spare millions of animals from the worst confinement systems.
What the “Save Our Bacon” Act Would Do
The pork industry has spent years trying to overturn laws like Proposition 12. They filed repeated lawsuits and lost, all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court in 2023.
Now, unable to win in court, the industry is trying a different route: asking Congress to take away states’ authority to regulate products sold within their own borders.
That’s what the “Save Our Bacon” Act would do. On its own, this proposal would face intense opposition from animal protection advocates, small farmers, higher-welfare producers, food safety and public health advocates, local governments, and supporters of states’ rights across the political spectrum. So instead, industry lobbyists buried it in the Farm Bill and blocked efforts to remove it.
If Congress passes this language, it could wipe out hundreds of laws that protect animals, consumers, and public health.
How You Can Make a Difference
While all of this sounds scary (and it is), there is still hope. When all of us make our voices heard, we can create change.
The most important thing you can do for animals right now is to email or call your U.S. Senators and urge them to oppose any Farm Bill that includes any version of the so-called “Save Our Bacon” Act.
Call Your MN Senators
Calling your Senators is easier than you think! When you call, you’ll likely either talk with a staffer, or be prompted to leave a message. Calls from constituents are logged, and Senators listen to what the people want. Phone calls are an easy way to make your voice heard. Call these numbers to get in touch with our MN Senators’ offices:
- Senator Amy Klobuchar: 202-224-3244
- Senator Tina Smith: 202-224-5641
Email Your MN Senators
Maybe making calls isn’t your style. Or maybe you’ve already tried calling and the voicemail box is full (it happens!). Sending an email is the next best thing. Share your opinions in writing and send them off to these links:
What to Say When You Email or Call
Contacting your Senators can be intimidating — but it doesn’t have to be! Of course, you can personalize your message to fit your own personality and what you’d like to say. To make it even easier, you can also use our sample script below. Customize it to your liking, or just copy and paste — what could be easier than that!
Hi, my name is [NAME], and I’m a constituent from [CITY/ZIP].
I’m calling to urge Senator [NAME] to oppose any Farm Bill that includes the Save Our Bacon Act. This provision would override hundreds of state and local laws — including more than ten Minnesota laws requiring veterinary inspections of farm animals for disease prevention.
Minnesota’s legislators should have the right to set standards that protect our health, support our economy, and reflect our values. Congress should not strip our state, or any state, of that authority.
[for Klobuchar only] As someone running to be the next Governor of Minnesota, it’s critical that you protect Minnesota’s ability to make its own laws and protect the health of all Minnesotans.
Please keep the Save Our Bacon Act out of the Senate version of the Farm Bill and oppose any Farm Bill that includes this language. Thank you.
More Ways You Can Help
If you’ve already called or emailed, thank you for making your voice heard! You can also contact your Senators more than once on any issue you care about. Call or email again. And again. Fill those Senators’ inboxes to let them know that Minnesotans care about this Bill. Every email or call is another voice for animals and our community. Sign up for more alerts from The Humane League on this issue.
Are you connected to faith leaders, public health leaders, or farmers who would sign a letter about the farm bill? Please contact us to share more info and we’ll be in touch to coordinate.
Together, we are saving animals’ lives and working for better protections and conditions for farmed animals. Stay tuned for more action alerts and join us at an event soon. Our community is strong and we are so grateful for all the ways you show up!
