Livestock Myths vs. Facts Tackled at Farm/City Week Kickoff
National panel clarifies animal welfare issues.
Tom Bechman
Published: Nov 20, 2009
Anyone present in the audience at the kickoff of National Farm/City Week Thursday, Nov 19 or listening via Agri-Talk radio got the message loud and clear. Farmers and groups that work with farmers are realizing that it's time to fight back against so-called animal welfare groups who issue damaging videos and spew half-truths. And the best way to fight back is for farmers and ranchers to tell their own story.
"One of our goals is for farmers and ranchers to sit down and tell the story of agriculture whenever they can," says Roger Berry, field director for the Alliance for the Future of Agriculture in Nebraska. "The other goal we have as an organization is to work with farmers and ranchers who want to bring a son or daughter back home into the operation, and find a way to do it. Often that involves turning to livestock to generate more income."
Roger Berry, a Nebraskan (right), and Mike Bumgarner from Ohio (center) both believe livestock farmers need to become proactive, telling their story. At far left is Mike Adams, emcee for today's National Farm/City Week symposium.
"When consumers ask questions about where their food comes from or if it's safe, that's a great opportunity to talk," Berry says. That's when we need to have farmers tell their stories."
While opponents of livestock agriculture, such as PETA and the Humane Society of the Unties States, are good at evoking emotion by placing disturbing videos on places like YouTube, ag supporters can do the same thing, Berry says. And many already have. There are plenty of YouTube videos on line today that show farmers doing the job of animal care the right way.
"The opposition looks for a bad actor and wants the public to think that's what all of livestock agriculture is like," he continues. "There will always be bad actors in any industry. But fro every bad actor, there are thousands of farmers and ranchers out there doing things right."
Mike Bumgarner of the Ohio Farm Bureau adds, "As producers first began to be challenged about how they did things, some got defensive. The public doesn't know the true story because most people today are three to four generations removed form the farm.
"We have to do everything we can to help the public understand the true story. There will be instances where the public doesn't like what it sees. But we must tell our story."
Bumgarner is now vice-president of the new Center for Food and Animal Issues sponsored in Ohio. The public there just recently passed by nearly two to one the setting up of a board to determine how animals should be cared for in Ohio. Ag groups pushed the proposition on the ballot to establish a science-based group before other groups went after a ballot initiative to restrict how farmers handle animals during the general election in Ohio in 2010.
"The problem comes when some other groups have ulterior motives beside the well-being of animals," he continues. Namely, PETA and HSUS are believed to want total elimination of the livestock industry in the U.S.
That's another reason why both speakers believe farmers and ranchers need to become proactive telling their story, even it it's at the coffee shop.
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Tagged: farm, PETA, Farm Bureau, HSUS
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