Editor’s Note: For a look at how various industry representatives responded, read our reaction story here.
COLUMBUS — Battery hen cages, sow gestation crates and veal crates will be phased out in Ohio, changing production practices on many farms in the years to come.
The Humane Society of the United States, Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland and Jack Fisher, executive vice president of the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation, announced a compromise has been reached between HSUS and Ohio’s major agricultural groups regarding animal welfare issues. As a result, there will be no ballot initiative regarding livestock on the November ballot.
Surprise
In a unexpected development, Strickland held a news conference to announce the deal late in the afternoon June 30, the day the HSUS was supposed to hand over petition signatures to the secretary of state’s office for the proposed November ballot initiative.
The agreement itself is unique from deals reached in other states because it also promises new legislation for dog breeding kennels, cock fighting and possession of exotic animals.
Strickland, who was influential in brokering the deal, said the compromise was good for Ohio agriculture and for animal welfare. He added it is a common sense solution and did not think it was in Ohio’s best interest to proceed with the proposed ballot initiative.
The deal
The compromise includes the following (Read the complete agreement.)
— Veal crates will be phased out by 2017.
— There will no more permits issued for new pork operations using gestation crates as of Dec. 31, 2010. The gestation crates already in use will be phased out in 15 years, or by Dec. 31, 2025.
— There will be no new permits issued for battery cages used in egg operations. A timeline has not been established for the phase-out of the cages.
California, Arizona and Florida are using a six-year limit on phasing out the gestation, veal and battery cages.
— The agreement also supports the language on the proposed ballot initiative related to downer animals and how farmers can euthanize livestock on their farms.
In addition, Strickland and the farm groups pledged to work to get the legislature to consider stronger puppy mill/kennel regulations, stronger penalties and legislation for cockfighting, and stronger regulation against exotic animals breeding and possession.
Strickland said the deal has the support of the Ohioans for Livestock Care steering committee, which includes the state’s dairy, beef, poultry, pork, corn, and soybean associations, and the Ohio Farm Bureau. He said it is a balance between animal welfare and economics, and still maintains the integrity of the newly formed Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board.
“Agriculture is Ohio’s single largest industry and we’ve arrived at a good solution and resolution for Ohio,” Strickland said.
Board still has final say
Ohio Director of Agriculture Robert Boggs and members of the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board were noticeably absent at the news conference.
But Boggs, who also chairs the livestock care board, said “people are tired of confrontation and want consensus and collaboration.”
To his knowledge, “no member of the board was involved in the deliberations,” an important factor, he said, because the board must maintain its independence in order to create a set of standards for the care of livestock in Ohio.
The board will consider recommendations from the compromise participants as it would from any source, he said.
“We can’t be involved in negotiations and then rule on if it’s good or bad,” he said.
Boggs said the agreement assures recommendations will be made, but noted “the care board will (still) make the final decision.”
Why cut a deal?
Ohio Farm Bureau Federation’s CEO Jack Fisher said the HSUS and OFBF do think differently, but they both came to the table to represent the interests of Ohioans. He added the agreement recognizes the wishes of the voters expressed in last year’s election and enables the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board to carry out its work.
It also, Fisher said, adds certainty, or risk management, for Ohio farmers that a ballot initiative on this November ballot would not have provided.
Fisher stressed that the resolution will allow the board the opportunity to fill its mission, which is to create standards for livestock.
Wayne Pacelle, chief executive officer of HSUS, agreed with Fisher that the uncertainty of what would happen in a ballot initiative for either side made the compromise possible.
He said the organization has been at odds with a number of issues but through good faith discussion and the realization that animal welfare matters, a compromise was reached.
Ballot initiative
Patrick Galloway, director of communications for Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, said there are no statistics available for groups collecting signatures for a ballot issue. However, a group typically turns in double the number of signatures needed. The percentage of signatures validated varies depending on whether or not an outside paid group collecting signatures was used and how professional they are.
Galloway added that, in his experience, when the group shoots for double the number needed, it usually works out and the group has enough valid signatures.
To get the HSUS-backed initiative on this November’s ballot, the Ohioans for Humane Farms needed a minimum of 402,275 valid signatures. It said it had collected over 500,000.
Galloway said he is doubtful that they (Ohioans for Humane Farms) would have made it.
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The exotic animal owners in Ohio backed the farmers in their fight against the HSUS and I feel like you sold us out. I surely hope you will be willing to fight for us like we did for you when the time comes for the HSUS to put the exotic animal owners through the ringer. How dare the farmers speak for or compromise in the name of the exotic animal owners. We had your back and you through us under the bus!!
Nancy…you couldn’t be more correct about being sold out. However, as a small farmer I can tell you we don’t support this decision made by our governor and OFBF.
EXOTIC animals should remain in their natural habitat. What a cruel, selfish deed to remove them for human use and/ or entertainment. GO HSUS!
ok really? do you want the hsus to tell ohio how to run our farms. cause i will tell you right now. i farm and own chickens and i dont abuse them or anything like that. i run my farm and will NOT let some out of state hippies telling me how to run my farm. i prefer OHIO farmers on a board to make the rules and regulations. so screw HSUS
Ummmm. Chris… too late
What do you base that opinion on? Do you know any exotic animal owners in Ohio or anywhere for that matter? Have you ever talked to any of them to see what they are all about or to see how they take care of their animals? The owners of exotic animals in Ohio did not remove them from their natural habitat. We have given them a responsible home because their habitat is being destroyed at an alarming rate. Many exotic animals will become extinct if there are no efforts to preserve them in captivity.
I am sure Hillary from the HSUS will be on here soon to give me her hogwash about how terrible the exotic animal problem is in Ohio. But she will not base her hogwash on facts or scientific proof, she will just repeat the banter of the HSUS who would love to get a foothold in Ohio to stop all human/animal interaction including for food, fiber, or companionship. Once the HSUS gets a chance to dictate any animal laws in Ohio they will circle back around and kick the farmers in the rear end after they get rid of all of the rest of the animal industry in Ohio or any other state that hasn’t fallen to their whims.
With the HSUS it is all about power and money and has nothing to do with the welfare of the animals. Those of us who actually feed, enrich, scoop the poop and dedicate our lives to these animals are the ones who REALLY care about their welfare. Laws aimed at banning animal ownership of any kind do nothing but cause unintended consequences to those owners who are responsible and take good care of their animals and the bad owners will continue to do what they do in spite of the ban laws. There are already laws on the books that sufficiently cover animal welfare issues in Ohio and the new Animal Care Board will work to bolster those laws but all laws have to be FAIR to be effective. Banning is not the answer.
Yes, once again, we farmers have been lied to, and backstabbed, by the group that was going to “protect” us from outside animal rights groups such as HSUS…”Issue 2″ was to create a Livestock Care Board…now, HSUS and its’ Ohio puppet group get to have a “say” on things presented to the board. Just by coincidence, I had received a renewal form from FB. I through mine in the trash-I hope others do the same. Why should we support a group that sells us out so easily??
I know I have posted a lot but I have a lot to say about this. It really surprised and horrified me when the Ohio Farm Bureau had the gall to throw the exotic animal industry under the bus in order to save their own behinds. Mark my word, the HSUS will be back to take the farm animal industry down after they get rid of all of the other animal industries that were making noise in support of animal ag.
I completely agree with Nancy.
Most all of the exotic animal owners in Ohio give Great homes for exotic animals, enrich their lives, do NOT steal them from the wild, try to create the Best homes possible for them, and dedicate so much of their time and lives to make them happy… And also, it helps keeps them alive from the destruction going on in nature- and even when their habitat isn’t being destroyed, the life expectancy of animals compared from wild to in captivity is increased about %300. For example: The average life expectancy of a fox in the wild is 3-5 years, and in captivity it’s 15…and the people who share their lives with them are dedicated to making it a happy 15 years.
I’m just going to say I don’t support bans. If they put a law up that prevents random people that are on an impulse buy to get them, then I support it; but if it’s going to stop dedicated exotic animal owners from having their animals, then it’s just not fair, to the people Nor the animals.
Farm Bureau blinked first. What will they give away next year and the year after when HSUS comes back with a new ballot initiative? Did they get a committment from HSUS that they will leave the state alone for a certain period of time?
The last time I looked, a compromise involved each side giving up something. This appears to be a one sided compromise. I hope that the final details provide some reason to be hopeful about this agreement. However, ask any blackmail victim what happens when you give in a little.
While this is far from perfect, it does not address the issue of the neighbors of CAFOS, it is a small step in the right direction. I would hope that when you talk about power and money you realize that is what Farm Bureau has become in the past years. It only, in my opinion addresses the issues of industrial farms and that is sad for the small and medium sized farms who like myself, a farm bureau member have no voice.
I do hope it returns to being a farm bureau for farmers and not just promote industrial livestock operations.
Personally I am glad that an agreement was made, what is in this agreement is partially the same as the ballot initiative (no confinement of veal calves and no farrowing crates), but at the same time it’s not. There is more time for these practices to be phased out and replaced by other management practices. Ohio farmers will have to change with the times, but for now we have more time to change.
There are restrictions on some exotic animals however how I read this exerpt from the agreement I know of no one who owns bears, crocodiles, or venomous snakes, so I am not sure to what effect this point may have.
“The Ohio Department of Agriculture and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources will
coordinate and take action on wild and dangerous animals including the prohibition of the
sale and/or possession of big cats, bears, primates, large constricting and venomous
snakes and alligators and crocodiles. Existing owners will be grandfathered in, but they
could not breed or obtain new animals.”
And when it comes to HSUS coming back with another ballot initiative, they can’t it’s in the agreement. And if they try to bring about an initiative it makes this contract null and void and Ohio Farmers are no longer under the regulations of this agreement because it would be a breech of contract on behalf of HSUS.
“HSUS will also not initiate litigation (nuisance or otherwise) to attempt to use legal
process to obtain the same ends as articulated in the ballot initiative in Ohio through the
life of this agreement. HSUS will not fund, advise or otherwise support other
organizations to move forward in their place.”
There is NO legal contract for any of the recent “compromises” with the HSUS. Therefore, the HSUS can use their ballot initiative as a threat against OH any time they don’t agree with our Animal Care Board. So basically the HSUS will be running the show which is exactly what they wanted in the first place. They won, we lose.
Matthew Weeman said “Nancy…you couldn’t be more correct about being sold out. However, as a small farmer I can tell you we don’t support this decision made by our governor and OFBF”
Then I hope that the farmers who were lied to and sold out will be helping the dog breeders and exotic animal owners in our fight against the HSUS when the time comes. We had your back and now it’s your turn to have ours.
Fed Up Farmer said “Yes, once again, we farmers have been lied to, and backstabbed, by the group that was going to “protect” us from outside animal rights groups such as HSUS…”Issue 2″ was to create a Livestock Care Board…now, HSUS and its’ Ohio puppet group get to have a “say” on things presented to the board. Just by coincidence, I had received a renewal form from FB. I through mine in the trash-I hope others do the same. Why should we support a group that sells us out so easily??”
I hope most members of the Farm Bureau will not renew their membership. The OFB is not any better than the HSUS when it comes to power and money and they do NOT have the best interests of the family farmers at heart. The only way to cut them back down to size and let them know they work for YOU, and not the other way around, is to stop supporting them and let them know why. Just my opinion (unless that right has been taken away from us also).
Young Cattle Producer said “There are restrictions on some exotic animals however how I read this exerpt from the agreement I know of no one who owns bears, crocodiles, or venomous snakes, so I am not sure to what effect this point may have.
“The Ohio Department of Agriculture and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources will
coordinate and take action on wild and dangerous animals including the prohibition of the
sale and/or possession of big cats, bears, primates, large constricting and venomous
snakes and alligators and crocodiles. Existing owners will be grandfathered in, but they
could not breed or obtain new animals.”
What this means is that it is a BAN on ownership. If you can keep what you already have, but you can’t breed them or replace them when they are gone, it is a BAN! Get it? How would you like it if you couldn’t replace your breeding stock once they are done breeding? Think about that because if the HSUS has their way that will be a reality in the not so distant future. If they have a victory over dog breeding and exotic animal ownership, farm animal ag is next on their list and has been for a long time. They will take out the minority first (dog breeders and exotic animal owners) and then use the same tactics to win big in the farming industry. That is their main goal and they will accomplishment it if we don’t all stick together and fight them harder than we have in the past.
Young Cattle Producer, thanks for sharing excerpts of the agreement, particularly on HSUS coming back with another ballot initiative, however that’s not quite what is being communicated by some of their leaders. Here’s what was circulating today –
“We could always do it again in 2011, using all the signatures we gathered and sacrificing just a small validity rate, if it is deemed that the opposition is not honoring the agreement or that the political climate is ripe for the initiative.”
This should never even been on the ballot. How an emotion based special interest group can come into a state and have them give in to their demands is unbelievable. People are voting on something they don’t fully understand , and this in turn destroys people’s and families lives,since they will lose their jobs and businesses, based on info from a group like the hsus. I hope in the future , peole will continue to fight the hsus . The hsus is one of the worst enemies the USA has!
Nancy, just tell me what you need. I think I’ve done a lot to help you already. I think many farmers will do more by keeping their OFBF membership checks in their pockets
Nancy, I would like to know where you were when Mercy for Animals, am HSUS supported group, released an animal creulty video to raise signatures for their ballot initiative not even two months ago. Where were you in helping protect Ohio farmers and the Ohio Ag industry??
HSUS is attacking the livestock industry, they have been for a very long time. Even in this agreement there are new regulations on poultry operations, hog producers and those who raise veal calves. But at the moment I’d rather have to deal with this then what they wanted to put on the ballot, which had tighter restrictions and a shorter time frame to implement new management practices.
My understanding is that gestation crates are proven methods of raising piglets. This is a tested method that has raised the quality and safety of our pork products. Won’t pigs attack and kill other pigs when piglets are born, or at any time? Wouldn’t it be ironic if the quality and safety of our pork goes down after the gestation ban goes into affect? How many pigs will die because they attach each other? HSUS, why don’t you let the people who have raised animals for years do their jobs, and you go back to hugging trees and singing Kum-by-yah while smoking your pot.
The bitter truth is that HSUS is attacking ALL animal owners-whether ag-related, pets, and also hunter/angler/trappers also. They WILL NOT stop until they complete their goal-which is COMPLETE ANIMAL LIBERATION, thus forcing a vegan agenda on us all. Regardless of what catagory we fall into, we MUST band together to fight HSUS and other animal rights groups. There is absolutely NO compromising with them-they cunningly are always planning further actions to get them to their goal regardless of ANY agreement they may have made, and tragically are constantly brainwashing our youth and any adults capable of allowing them to do that to them…HSUS is pure EVIL…it is an abomination that Farm Bureau and Gov. Strickland made an agreement with them.. They unwittingly sold us ALL out and flushed our constitutional rights away.
Matthew Weeman wrote “Nancy, just tell me what you need. I think I’ve done a lot to help you already. I think many farmers will do more by keeping their OFBF membership checks in their pockets”
Thank you Matthew. What we need the farmers to do is call the Gov office and the state reps and senators in their own districts and tell them they are against this “compromise” with the HSUS and that they had no right to do that against the wishes of Ohio livestock producers and the exotic animal and pet animal industries that are not under the jurisdiction of the Ohio Farm Bureau.
We need to make some major noise about this because this is absolutely the worst violation of our constitutional rights at the state level I have ever seen and I have been working on animal legislative issues for a long time.
Young Cattle Producer said “Nancy, I would like to know where you were when Mercy for Animals, am HSUS supported group, released an animal creulty video to raise signatures for their ballot initiative not even two months ago. Where were you in helping protect Ohio farmers and the Ohio Ag industry??
I was out telling the public about the HSUS and their true agenda of killing the OH ag industry. I was working to protect exotic animal owners from banning legislation in several states. The exotic animal community has been the victim of these scam HSUS and Peta videos for a long time. The AR groups send in two of their “people” who manage to get hired as workers on the farm or sanctuary and then they shoot horrific videos of this worker doing unspeakable things to animals. They don’t report this treatment to the owners of the farm or sanctuary, they shoot these videos for several weeks instead to make sure they have enough convincing video footage to make their case. Then they save it back so they can make it public at just the perfect time to get what they want legislatively.
what was issue 2 even for I feel so betrayed none of the recent comprimises were science based at all as promised OFBF sold us out I regret my vote for issue 2. HOW DID THIS HELP FARMERS?
Listening to all the discussions and webcasts that have been taking place since the Agreement was first announced, I find it unfortunate that so much time and money (millions of dollars) was expended over the past 18 months before this decision was reached between all interested parties. I can’t help but wonder how much farther along we might have been had we directed all our energies towards arriving at a good solution and resolution for Ohioans back when discussions between HSUS and the OFBF first took place in early 2009.
Good to see this come to an end. Glad to see both sides came to agreement that satisifies both sides. I don’t like HSUS, buth I do agree with controlling ownership of exotic animals.
But Jared, this goes way beyond regulating the ownership of exotic animals. It is an actual BAN on ownership. Bans never work because they have so many unintended consequences to the responsible owners and the irresponsible owners won’t abide of the law anyways so it is only hurting the people who are responsible. This is an executive order which means that exotic animal owners have NO SAY about what rukles will be made. We will not be given any due process; no hearings, no facts or info exchange, nothing. They just snap their fingers and we are done. You talk about an agreement that satifies both sides but exotic animals are not in any way under the OH Farm Bureau. They had no right to use us as a bargaining chip and they never contacted any OH exotic animal orgs to get our input. That is so unfair!
I see your point Nancy. Everybody thinks laws and bans solve problems but they only create a bigger one. It was a huge surprise to me when I read that OFBF and HSUS reached an agreement. I still don’t have any trust for HSUS after hearing some of the horror stories about them. By the way, does anybody know if the dog kennel thing means they will stop the push against dog auctions ?
There is a separate ballot initiative in the works to ban dog auctions in Ohio. At the present time, Substitute Senate Bill 95 (the Dog Kennel Licensing Bill that the activists insist on calling the Puppymill Bill) has removed the language banning the sale of dogs at auctions and flea markets; however, there is no guarantee that the language won’t be added back in when the bill goes to the Senate floor for vote this fall.
As Nancy pointed out, Ohio Farm Bureau has NO SAY over dogs and exotic animals. They overstepped their bounds and violated their own state policy by entering into this agreement with HSUS. It would be no different than a private dog or exotic animal organization signing an agreement with HSUS to ban possession/sale of hogs, cattle, chickens, sheep, goats, etc. (livestock). As Farm Bureau has insisted for at least the past 20 years, DOGS AND EXOTIC ANIMALS ARE NOT LIVESTOCK. Therefore, they had NO business entering into an agreement affecting those non-livestock animals. Any Farm Bureau member who continues to shell out $60/year to an organization that sells out to HSUS ought to be ashamed/embarrassed/outraged. The main reason Farm Bureau entered into this agreement was so that they would not have to PAY to fight HSUS’ ballot initiative in the media. So, in order to save THEIR money, they have signed an agreement that will cost Ohio farmers and consumers dearly.
I agree with Polly 100%! Please tell anyone who is thinking of renewing their membership in the Ohio Farm Bureau to think about how the OFB turned on a dime when the going got rough. They sold out the farmers the same as they did the dog breeders and exotic animal owners. The idea behind the Animal Care Board was to make sure that the HSUS couldn’t come into Ohio and dictate animal welfare regulations to Ohio’s animal ag professionals. Now the OFB has let the HSUS in the door to hold the ballot initiative over our heads if we don’t do exactly what they say we should do. FYI, the HSUS will never be satisfied until there is not more animal ag, dog breeding or exotic animals in Ohio.
Polly and Nancy are exactly right. Anyone that owns an animal has been sold out. HSUS and PETA both have said numerous times what their agenda is. “We have no ethical obligation to preserve the different breeds of livestock produced through selective breeding. One generation and out. We have no problem with the extinction of domestic animals. They are creations of human selective breeding.” Wayne Pacelle, Senior VP of Humane Society of the US, formerly of Friends of Animals and Fund for Animals, Animal People, May, 1993.
They are out for all animals. This agreement is just the beginning. HSUS couldn’t get all the way in so they stuck their foot in the door. What we need to do as one united group (Dog/Cat owners, exotic animals, farms, ranchers, all animal owners) is remove their foot from the door and slam it shut. Educate everyone one you know what is going on and get them to tell the Gov, OFBF, OPA and all the other AG leaders we do not support this in any way.
Time to show HSUS how much we do care about our animals. We care enough to tell HSUS to stay out! We’re the experts and we know how to do best for our animals. Make our animals happy.
Polly and Nancy, not to add more fuel to the fire, but it was reported yesterday in one of the Columbus newspapers that the US Sportsmen Alliance has endorsed SB95. Their lobbyist said the organization feels the amended bill maintains critical protections for the sporting dog community, that they don’t want to be treated as commercial operators and that they are counting on Governor Strickland to ensure the proposed legislation is passed by the legislators.
Sounds like possibly the USSA may have been “silent partners”, working behind the scenes on this latest Agreement between HSUS, OFBF and Governor Strickland.
USSA withdrew their opposition to SB95 prior to the committee hearing on June 1. USSA historically opposes animal rights bills only until they get their own members exempted, then they withdraw their opposition, thus allowing the legislation to move forward. I wish (and have wished for many years) that USSA would take a stronger stance against animal rights legislation by continuing to oppose bad bills rather than carving out an exemption for their members and hanging the rest of the industry out to dry.
has anyone seen how the hsus and peta do the animals they saved from suck horrable lifes. they are put to death thats how. nowhow is that better for an animal that is not being abused to be better for it because it was born wild then some how domesticated. 1+1 does not equal 1. you give the agencies enough power and we are back where we all started from with Columbus, but there is no new world to sail to. so wake up, read educate yourselves, ask questions.then educate your neighbors. ohio is mostly farm communities, farm raise animals for some type of food be it for another animal or humans . let the agencies get away with this and we will all slowly become vegetarians without milk, eggs or meat. hey petarians howd you like me to pee on your cabbage and carrots. and as for the humane society your the biggest cons of the bunch killing 85% of the animals you supposedly save. true some might be better off but of that percentage you destroy each year were household pets some one said was abused and you found no Purina in the cupboard, did you look in the fridge for fillet Mignon or just assume the pet was the only one going hungry that day.but it had a roof over its head and was most likely loved not euthanasia for profit. and dont tell me you dont get anything for the prosecution of the subject. ther is a thing called restitution that is always ordered to the supposed guilty party. and the last judge i heard said it was to pay for the care of the animal. a 20 lb bag of dry dog food is 5 bucks at the dollar store where did the other 245 dollars go, for gassing the animal?oh! for your advertising costs? wake up america and smell the coffee befor its banned too. quit scrabbling umungst yourselves and band together before its too late and hamburger is the price of a carton of cigarettes. i mean farrowing crates reduced the death of piglets 75-80% over the last 30 years next you will want stanchions removed from dairy farms. come on get with it.
I supported Issue 2 & encouraged others to support it also as I felt it was the lesser of two evils. I don’t like the idea of anyone telling me how to raise or treat my animals but it was better than losing my right to raise my animals. I believe the majority of farmers treat their animals well because if they don’t their profits drop. My FB doesn’t renew until March but as with “FED-UP &PO’d farmer” when it comes in the mail I will not be renewing it. I agree we have been lied to and stabbed in the back. Why would we negotiate with HSUS or anyone that had the ultimate goal of putting us out of business?!?!?!
To those who say that we are doing a service to exotic animals by bringing them into our homes this way exotic animals will not struggle to survive in the wild. Excuse me! Exotic animals habitat is being lost(by HUMANS by the way) in record numbers…..So I am sorry to say you have gotten all this twisted. Shouldn’t we be working even harder to STOP the destruction of habitat loss?? Bringing them into our homes is a band aid. Not a solution. It’s like saying let’s bring polar bears from the arctic and put them into zoos since polar bears are losing their habitat.
Why not STOP the destruction of exotic animals habitat so they can all stay where they are happiest and that is IN THE WILD -IN THE WILD!
Humans just love to dominate and destroy everything. What a shame.