Katherine Klingseis

kklingseis@dmreg.com

Singer Cher called out Iowa farmers in a tweet about the treatment of pregnant pigs Tuesday night.

The post from Cher's verified Twitter account comes a day after Iowa Gov. Terry Branstadsaid that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie made a "good decision" when he vetoed legislation banning pig gestation crates Friday.

The governor was asked about Cher's tweet Wednesday.

"Yeah, I saw that. They know a lot about pig production in Hollywood," Branstad said, obviously not impressed with the pop singer's comments.

Branstad on Tuesday said he spoke with Christie before he vetoed the legislation and argued the crates were good for piglets and consumers.

"This is an issue that most people in New Jersey have no clue," Branstad said. "They don't raise hardly any pigs in New Jersey, they don't have farrowing crates. But this is something we do have knowledge of in Iowa, and I give him credit for listening to and understanding that this is something we're very concerned about and that does impact consumers as well because if these baby pigs are crushed and die that means there are fewer pigs and that impacts the price of pork."

The measure to make it illegal to use small enclosures for pigs in New Jersey was pushed by the Human Society of the United States. Wayne Pacelle, CEO of the organization, responded to Branstad's remarks by saying he was misinformed.

"The bill in New Jersey seeks to ban gestation crates, which are pre-birthing crates," Pacelle wrote in an email to The Des Moines Register. "There are no piglets at risk when they are in utero. Yet Branstad's only substantive argument focuses on crushing of the pigs. Who is it who has no clue?