Prior to the regulatory changes, some farmers would house breeding sows for the entire gestation period. Because the pens are so narrow, animals would be unable to turn around, move freely, or extend their limbs fully for a period of several months, or even years, said Wayne Pacelle, president of Animal Wellness Action and the former leading organizer of Ohioans for Humane Farms.
“Sows have a four-month gestation period,” said Pacelle. “Then...they’re re-impregnated, put back into that crate, so they could have five, six, seven...successive pregnancies and can be in that crate for up to three years.”
Though the restriction on gestation crates officially went into effect at the end of 2025, Ohio’s pig farmers have been preparing for this change for more than a decade, said Mike King, senior director of Communications at the Ohio Pork Council. During that time, new breeding and housing methods were developed by Ohio veterinarians, animal scientists, and pig farmers “who understand local conditions and animal care needs,” he said.
“Ohio is a leader in this area,” King added. “Ohio voters made a forward-looking decision to establish the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board, creating the first state-led, science-based system in the nation for setting livestock care standards. That system ensures decisions about animal housing are guided by veterinarians, animal scientists, and pig farmers using research, animal health data, and real-world experience.”
Under the new system, the sows may be confined in individual breeding pens for a brief period to confirm conception and support early pregnancy, after which she is released into group pen, King said.
Ohio is one of the top 10 pork producing states in the country, and the first among the top 10 states to enact these changes. (Iowa is by far the greatest producer in the country, at 13.6 billion pounds annually in 2024, according to the World Population Review).
More than 98% of Ohio’s pork farms are family-owned, King said, and making these changes represents a substantial financial investment.
“Group housing systems require significantly more space and infrastructure, and those changes represented major investments for family farms,” he said. “These are multi-generation farm families who live where they farm and care deeply about their animals, their employees, and their local communities.”
Credit: DION JOHNSON
Credit: DION JOHNSON
The regulation changes are not expected to affect consumer pork prices, he added, as those are much more influenced by simple supply and demand.
The gestation crate restrictions are the last in an eight-part series of reforms negotiated between animal rights groups and Ohio farmers in 2010. At the time, Ohioans for Humane Farms had collected more than 650,000 signatures to place a ballot initiative, titled the Ohio Livestock Care Initiative, before voters that would have banned extreme confinement of sows, veal calves, and laying hens.
Rather than spend millions on a statewide ballot fight, Pacelle said, Ohioans for Humane Farms, the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation, the Ohio Pork Producers’ Council, and the Ohio Poultry Association reached a compromise that included eight separate provisions: a 15-year phase-out of gestation crates, an accelerated phase-out of veal crates, a halt to new battery cage construction for laying hens, and a ban on dragging “downer” cows for slaughter, referring to an animal that cannot stand on its own, usually due to illness or injury.
“There was an eight-point program that was developed, and after a lot of haggling over hours, we agreed to that,” Pacelle said. “It was the biggest single set of (animal rights) reforms proposed in a single agreement, and it would require action by the governor, the state legislature, and also by the newly created Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board.”
The reforms also banned farm animal strangulation, established felony-level penalties for cock fighting, cracked down on puppy mills, and banned Ohioans from owning dangerous exotic animals as pets, such as primates, bears, tigers, large snakes, or crocodiles, to name a few.
The last of these was rushed into enaction after the notorious Zanesville animal escape in 2011, when a man who owned a private exotic animal collection intentionally released 50 of his 56 animals into a busy neighborhood, before committing suicide. The incident made national, and even worldwide headlines.
“It was a major moment in Ohio history in catapulting the state forward on animal welfare, but it was also a set of policies that should have been obvious for sensible lawmakers to adopt years before,” Pacelle added.
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