A while back I blogged about opposition to section 123 of the proposed 2007 farm bill from animal welfare and environmental groups, including the Humane Society. The section was widely understood to pre-empt at the federal level any state efforts to regulate or ban food items and animal products over and above the standards set by the feds. This would rule out, for instance, state laws banning particular methods of animal farming like confinement crates.

It looks like the offending section, as well as a subsidy for the veal industry, has been removed from the bill.