After producers from 10 states traveled to Washington, D.C., last week to oppose the "Save Our Bacon Act," a Nebraska farmer is praising lawmakers' decision to leave it out of the Senate Agriculture Committee’s Farm Bill.

The proposal, largely aimed at California restrictions on pork produced using gestation crates, would limit states’ ability to regulate how agricultural products sold within their borders are produced.

Kevin Fulton, owner of Clear Creek Land and Livestock in Sherman County, has raised livestock for about 60 years and called confining sows in the crates cruel and inhumane. He welcomes the Senate’s decision but remains cautious about what happens next.

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"That's a big plus. I mean, it makes me feel really good," Fulton said. "The big question is, is the Farm Bill even going to get passed or if it goes back and then another version will come out, and then it gets included back in. So I'm not ready to go out and start celebrating yet."

Supporters of the act, including the National Pork Producers Council, said differing state regulations create a costly patchwork for farmers and want Congress to prevent conflicting state standards.

The Senate bill still needs full-chamber approval before it can be reconciled with the House version, which includes the Save Our Bacon Act. The current Farm Bill extension expires at the end of this month but could be extended again.

Meanwhile, Fulton argued the act could interfere with Nebraska’s disease testing and health certification requirements for incoming livestock. He noted Nebraska producers are already contending with high input and fuel costs amid continued consolidation in agriculture. When imagining what a successful Farm Bill would look like, Fulton emphasized it would support and strengthen independent family farms.

"Break up the consolidation in the industry, like the meat industry, the seed and fertilizer, chemical industries," Fulton urged. "It's all run by large conglomerates, and there just isn't competition like there used to be."

Fulton contended federal policy tends to favor large agricultural corporations, leaving independent producers with fewer choices when buying supplies or selling what they produce.