11/15/06 Fair Treatment of Animals

Fair Treatment of Animals. I'm Greg Martin with today's Line On Agriculture. Three organizations - the Humane Society of the United States  FarmSanctuary - and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals  have won the first skirmish in the battle to determine what is the best way to treat farm animals. Last week - 62 percent of Arizona`s voters voted to ban the use of sow gestation stalls and veal crates in Livestock Husbandry. Industry watchers say the groups selected Arizona as a battle ground state because it has only about 180 hog farms and no major veal producers. Plus - only one of the state`s hog farms would be affected. Ohio pork producer Brian Black is Vice President of the National Pork Producers Council. Black says the outcome of the Arizona vote is a disappointment. BLACK: We are very disappointed that the voters of Arizona adopted this proposition outlawing a husbandry practice that's been deemed appropriate by decades of farm experience as well as the industry and university research and the nations leading veterinary association. Black says there should be no question. He says pork producers across the nation are using proven technology. Black points to his operation as an example. BLACK: As a pork producer who has used both outside penning and gestation as well as now using sow gestation I can assure your listeners that sow gestation stalls are by far more humane as far as the individual sow attention. Our sows on our own farm receive daily care, they receive individual feed; they can be monitored more closely than in an open lot of pen situation. Their environment is totally controlled. They don't have to worry about being too cold in the winter or too muddy and wet in the summer. It's been researched, it's been documented that this practice is not only efficient for farmers but it is very humane and keeps the welfare of the animal at the utmost. Black says the industry must continue to educate those who are far removed from agriculture. BLACK: People in this day and age are two or three generations removed from agriculture and they just don't understand the modern concepts that agriculture has and that's something we have to strongly educate our consumer friends and let them know what we're doing and why we're doing it. That's today's Line On Agriculture. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.