Hinson touts Save our Bacon Act at state fair

U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson told reporters Friday that if her opponent wins the U.S. Senate campaign, the Iowa State Fair might lose its Iowa Pork Tent.

Hinson flipped porkchops and spoke with officials, farmers and media at the Iowa State Fair about California’s Proposition 12 and its effect on Iowa farmers, saying she’s heard from “hundreds, if not thousands,” of farmers about their concerns with the law.

Proposition 12 requires that certain proteins sold in California comply with the state’s animal confinement rules, even if animals are coming from other states like Iowa.

“We know this is a policy that is an over-regulatory policy, Californians trying to tell Iowans what they know how to do already best, which is raise animals responsibly,” Hinson said. “Not only is it a huge issue for the bottom line because compliance for it can cost each farmer up to between ($3,000) and $5,000 per sow, but this kind of overregulation is like death by 1,000 cuts, and we don’t want to see Iowa farmers continue to go out of business.”

Hinson is facing off against Democrat Iowa Rep. Josh Turek in the U.S. Senate race.  Turek has said he is opposed to the Save Our Bacon Act, which some opponents of the legislation have called  “pro-China” because it benefits Chinese-owned Smithfield Foods. But Turek has also said he does not support Proposition 12. Turek has criticized Senate Democrats for not helping to pass a farm bill and called for efforts to break up ag industry consolidation.

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig joined Hinson at the pork tent, where he thanked her for her fight against Proposition 12. He said “taxing and regulating” agriculture and farmers “hurts our smallest and mid-sized farmers the most” and leads to consolidation and farmers going out of business. Producers in central, southern and eastern Iowa also praised Hinson’s work on legislation to halt the California law and to get a farm bill passed.

The “Save Our Bacon Act,” proposed by Hinson to block individual state regulations on agricultural products’ raising conditions, was included in the latest farm bill iteration that failed to progress out of the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee.

When asked whether Hinson’s proposed policy combating Proposition 12 is a topic driving people’s decisions at the polls this fall, she said “it should be” as it connects to rising food prices and trying to keep them low so Iowans can continue to eat pork chops and bacon.

“You can’t keep regulation and taxes on top of our farm community,” Naig said. “We must be clear about that and the impact on not just the farm community, but on all Americans and certainly on Iowans and what they’re paying at the grocery store at the moment.”

Hinson discounts political ranking change

The Cook Political Report Thursday changed its rating for from leaning Republican to a toss-up. She told reporters she thinks the report is wrong, and “if the Iowa State Fair is any indication, (Iowans) want someone who’s going to show up.”

Turek responded to the change in the political ranking, saying it reflects what he’s hearing from Iowans. “Everywhere that we’re going, all across the state, all 99 counties, at the fair, doesn’t matter where we are, urban areas, rural areas, Iowans are hurting, they’re struggling, and they’re ready for change,” Turek said in a statement. “And I’m feeling that momentum.”

While Hinson has been at the fair every day this year, she criticized Turek for fundraising elsewhere last week rather than talking to Iowans at the fair. Turek visited the fair Friday, where he attended the Iowa’s Electrical Utilities Lineman Rodeo, his campaign said. A video posted by C-SPAN Friday also showed Turek speaking with Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand at the fair. Turek gave a soapbox speech Aug. 14, and visited the Iowa Pork tent at the fair Aug. 15.

Hinson said Turek doesn’t support the “Save Our Bacon Act” and wants to repeal tax cuts for farmers made in 2025, and one of the votes he missed in the Iowa Legislature was on Iowa’s farm legislation.

“Bottom line here is that if Josh Turek gets his way and is the next United States senator, I think he wants this to be the last year for the Iowa pork tent at the Iowa State Fair, and I don’t think that’s right,” Hinson said.

Turek responded to questions of missing votes during an Aug. 15 visit to the fair, where he said he was spending his time “meeting Iowans all over the state” during his campaign before the primary against Iowa Sen. Zach Wahls and pointed to his record as a state legislator to show his effectiveness.