| Common Sense, or Blackmail?
By JoAnn Alumbaugh
You may remember that last year, livestock groups across the country were praising Ohio and its successful establishment of the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board. The board was designed to represent farmers, veterinarians, animal specialists and consumer advocates as it developed care initiatives for livestock and poultry based on sound science and best management practices.
While the board is still in existence, its overriding authority was recently stymied. Last week the Governor of Ohio, Ted Strickland, announced an agreement had been reached between the Ohioans for Livestock Care Coalition (made up of Ohio’s agricultural and livestock industry groups) and the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS).
In essence, the HSUS has agreed not to pursue a ballot initiative this fall, in exchange for many of the restrictions on livestock production that it wanted in the first place. Included in those restrictions is a ban on new gestation stalls after this year, with all gestation stalls in the state to be phased out over the next 15 years. Other restrictions include, among other things:
A moratorium on construction of egg production facilities that use conventional cage housing
A ban on veal stalls by 2017
A ban on strangulation of farm animals and a requirement that on-farm euthanasia be done humanely
I read a number of news items on this so-called compromise and each had a different perspective on the settlement.
HumaneWatch is an HSUS watchdog, and editor David Martosko says his initial analysis (in which he felt animal ag groups had the upper hand) was “flat wrong.”
“When copies started to leak out of the text of the actual agreement, it was quite a different picture than what was painted at the press conference,” Martosko said. “Nobody in the press conference made it clear, for instance, that HSUS was going to have the option to cancel this agreement every couple of years if it felt like it wasn't getting enough love from the Farm Bureau. And the idea that HSUS was suddenly going to have influence over the Livestock Care Standards Board and was going to be allowed to fund research to influence the board; these are details that I think farmers should find very, very concerning.”
Dick Isler, Ohio Pork Producers Council executive vice president, painted a different picture: “We have an agreement that I think without question will allow the pork industry to remain viable in the state of Ohio,” said Isler. “Given that animal agriculture is constantly changing, we will always find new and better ways to do things and I think that’s also true with animal housing.
“This agreement is the best compromise ever reached between agriculture and HSUS across the nation,” Isler continued. “HSUS has agreed to support the mission and purpose of the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board, which they have previously opposed.”
Why wouldn’t HSUS support the Board, when it is already guaranteed the animal care restrictions it thought the Board would deny? Had the board been asked to look at the use of gestation crates, and then based its subsequent decision on available science, it likely would not have supported a gestation stall restriction. Research to date has shown no advantage to sows in free stalls over those in gestation stalls.
More worrisome to HumaneWatch’s Martosko is the impact the HSUS-Ohio deal could have on livestock and poultry production practices nationally. He says there are about a dozen other states that have followed Ohio's lead setting up livestock boards, but each one is a little different. “HSUS is ultimately going to use this against agriculture. They are going to go to the federal government and say 'Look, we've got a dozen competing different standards; we need to unify them with a federal standard.'"
Two Positives
While there are several reasons why this compromise agreement is disturbing, there are at least a couple of positive outcomes. First, farmers, their organizations and their allies will not be forced into a multi-million dollar media battle to defend themselves against a ballot initiative this November. The HSUS had gathered over 500,000 signatures, more than enough needed to put its measure on the ballot, and the provisions mentioned above would have been included. Similar propositions have already passed in California and Colorado so a huge public relations effort would have been necessary, especially since the measure passed by a narrow margin last year.
Even collectively, the agricultural industry would be hard-pressed to come up with a fraction of the money available to HSUS. Many ag organizations are funded through legislated check-offs and that money cannot be used for lobbying efforts. Rather than spend millions of dollars in what may have been an unsuccessful campaign, this money can instead be allocated to research and education with the intent of giving consumers a better understanding of sound agricultural practices.
The other positive outcome was the way in which Ohio’s agricultural groups worked together. The Ohioans for Livestock Care Coalition included representatives from all of the state’s livestock, corn, soybean and poultry associations in addition to the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation. While it’s extremely likely members of these groups had misgivings about supporting the compromise, they chose what they considered the lesser of two evils.
The agreement helps farmers live up to the promises they made during the State Issue 2 campaign last year, says Jack Fisher, executive vice president of the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation. “We will be able to continue producing safe, local, affordable food for Ohio’s consumers,” he explained.
The Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board is still in existence, and hopefully in time it will be given a chance to prove its value.
| | Author : JoAnn Alumbaugh | | Date Posted : 7/10/2010 12:13:33 AM | |
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| | | Re:Deal with HSUS: Common Sense or Blackmail? | Report this Message | Reply to this Message | | It will be interesting to see how the Ohio livestock care board handles the recommendations that will be presented to them from this agreement. I hope that the board still honors its commitments to Ohio's voters and base their final decision on research and not political bargaining AKA, blackmail | | | | Date Posted : 7/11/2010 4:39:24 PM | |
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| | Re: Re:Deal with HSUS: Common Sense or Blackmail? | Report this Message | Reply to this Message | | I cant belive they came to this end. They were condeming Michigan for doing the same thing. We have to stand up for what is right and stop giving in. | | | | Date Posted : 7/13/2010 8:36:28 PM | |
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| | Re:Deal with HSUS: Common Sense or Blackmail? | Report this Message | Reply to this Message | It is a slippery slope with the animal rights activists....they will keep pushing until we have so many regulations that livestock agriculture will move to another country with no rules...
They want to drive us out of business....
| | | | Date Posted : 7/17/2010 11:25:43 AM | |
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