Missouri was first. Nebraska might be next, with Virginia, Tennessee and Wyoming on deck.

We won’t mind seeing North Carolina in the lineup.

Product labels might be in small print, but they have a large impact when it comes to farmers. Though actual public consumption may be a few years away, products developed through the science of meat grown by culturing cells in a lab is being embraced with a term the conventional agriculture industry does not like.

“Clean meat” they call it. And many are calling that term foul.

A bill in Nebraska would define meat as “any edible portion of any livestock or poultry, carcass, or part thereof” and exclude “lab-grown or insect or plant-based food products.” Advertising something as meat that is not “derived from poultry or livestock” would be a crime, punishable as a misdemeanor with up to a $1,000 fine and up to a year in jail.

Three other states have similar measures pending.

At first blush, to arrive at such a law seems more like an “are you serious that we have to do this?”

We’d offer the same could be said for several years ago when North Carolina, already with a law on the books for reckless driving, added another for texting while driving. That is reckless — did we really need another law?

In the case from the lab, there are two things. Who among us in this generation hasn’t grown up knowing meat comes from poultry or livestock? Second, from the good folks at Merriam-Webster, there’s mention of animals but not labs in defining meat.

We’d add this, too. Our technological age, and what can be done in labs, is incredible and this science is good. The projection is for a worldwide need to feed 9 billion people in just over 30 years.

Some can relate to what was happening 30 years ago and realize that’s not so far away.

Eating choices are great. We certainly don’t begrudge those who wish to make a statement when it comes to animal rights and carbon dioxide emissions. We have no issue with vegans or vegetarians.

We also make no bones about our support of the No. 1 industry in North Carolina. It is agriculture and agribusiness, to include food, forestry and fiber, and is an $84 billion contributor to the state’s economy. We don’t want to see it damaged.

We believe it reasonable for a consumer to hear or see “clean meat” for products from a lab and thus believe anything off the farm is not clean. And that’s just not true.

The words “clean meat” are misleading. The cultured cells are what is clean.

But meat comes from poultry and livestock. It’s been a part of our state’s economic engine forever.

We would be wise to assure the hand feeding us is not cut off.

Add N.C. to lineup versus misleading ads