6-4 IAN Livestock Transparency

 Livestock producers have been battling with various regulations of their operations for a while. Most recently - the battle has been with antibiotic use. National Pork Producers Council Vice President Howard Hill says he opposes federal regulation of antibiotic use. Based on the science available - Hill says there’s no justification for eliminating use for production enhancement.“That pressure keeps coming from activists and different groups so it looks like we are on a path to lose those antibiotics for production performance.”

The livestock industry has various programs that help educate producers on the proper use of antibiotics - and Hill says producers are encouraged to work with their veterinarian to set up treatment protocols. With these issues and challenges livestock producers are facing - Hill says it comes down to the fact that society has moved further away from agriculture - meaning fewer people know what actually happens on farms. He encourages producers to be as transparent as possible so people can see what goes on. “A lot of people think we put animals inside to hide something. That is not the case at all. We have put animals inside so that we can care for them better. We cannot control a environment in the middle of the winter or summer when the animals are outside but when we can put them in buildings where we can increase the temperature or decrease the temperature, we can take a lot better care of them.

That transparency with the public is vital - Hill says - because producers have to get their message and the truth about their operations out there.