Beef and poultry operations nationwide are keeping a close eye on a ballot measure in Massachusetts, Politico reports.
The state ballot initiative, known as “Question 3,” would essentially ban inhumane confined animal-feeding operations. The law would require giving farm animals enough space to lie down, stand up, extend their limbs and turn around in their pens.
Though eggs or meat aren’t big business in the New England state, animal rights supporters have seized on the ballot measure as possibly the first in a string of such laws nationwide. Opponents are focusing on the law’s possible economic effects for Massachusetts consumers. That’s because producers from outside the state will have to comply with the law if they wish to sell their products in Massachusetts--and that could mean higher prices in the grocery aisles.
