A screengrab of an undercover video taken at an Iowa hog farm. courtesy

Supporters of the bill, like Iowa Farm Bureau President Craig Hill, believe it protects farmers from unfair profiling.

"I think it’s malicious when they show up intent on putting you out of business,” said Hill, who owns a hog farm near Ackworth, Iowa.

Passed in 2012, the law became the first of any state in the nation aimed at stopping similar undercover videos. Though no one has been convicted under the Iowa law, animal rights groups say they've stopped their undercover investigations as a result. And in the time since its passage, six more states have passed similar legislation: Idaho, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota and Utah.

Agriculture is big business – and politically powerful – in rural states like Iowa. Pork alone is worth $5 billion to the state’s economy, according to the Iowa Pork Producers Association.

"This is a very clear effort by the meat industry to prevent whistleblowers from gaining employment at factory farms and slaughter plants because they don’t want them taking photos of routine animal cruelty, food safety problems and more," said Paul Shapiro, vice president for farm animal protection at the Humane Society of the United States.

Like PETA, the Humane Society has conducted undercover investigations aimed at rooting out abuses at slaughterhouses and elsewhere. Shapiro and other animal rights advocates have dubbed these laws “ag gag.”

Hill says the label is a misnomer.

"Everyone has the freedom of speech," he said. "Everyone has the freedom and the ability to report something that’s inappropriate that’s going on. If there is abuse, we don’t tolerate that. And everyone has the ability to report or to go to the owner or go to the officials with questions and concerns."

Animal right advocate Amy Meyer doesn’t see it that way.