THE SEARCH is under way for a replacement for Countr y Financial CEO John Blackburn, who announced he will retire in January. .............................................2
THE pROCESS FOR approving GMO crops in the European Union (EU) is so cumbersome no resolution is eminent, an EU ag counselor said last week. .................5
An Ag CAREERS vidEO made by a high school FFA chapter and chosen the winner in a recent competition is changing the way agriculture careers are viewed. .....10
Monday, July 11, 2011
Two sections Volume 39, No. 28
‘Dangerous precedent’
HSUS, egg group propose welfare legislation BY MARTIN ROSS FarmWeek
Periodicals: Time Valued
In an effort purportedly aimed at establishing nationwide poultry welfare standards, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and the United Egg Producers (UEP) are seeking to codify by law new federal animal treatment measures. But the move has sparked anxiety among key livestock groups. UEP, a cooperative that represents a reported 95 percent of the nation’s layer operations, agreed last week to work with HSUS — which spearheaded past animal welfare initiatives in Arizona, California, Michigan, and Ohio — toward passage of the first such federal law. The prospective measure calls for phased replacement of conventional layer cages used by 90-plus percent of the industry with new “enriched housing systems” that would nearly double the space currently allotted each hen.
UEP estimates the cost of that change alone at $4 billion over the next 15 years. (see additional provisions page 3). With the agreement, HSUS put a hold on planned state ballot measures that would affect Washington and Oregon layer operations. UEP Chairman Bob Krouse deemed a national standard “far superior than a patchwork of state laws and regulations that would be cumbersome for our customers and confusing to consumers.” But National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) President Doug Wolf fears the move ultimately could hurt pork and other livestock sectors. Wolf argued “such a onesize-fits-all approach will take
away producers’ freedom to operate in a way that’s best for their animals, make it difficult to respond to consumer demands, raise retail meat prices and take away consumer choice, (and) devastate niche producers.” “Whatever the Humane Society and Egg Producers want to agree to is up to them,” NPPC Washington spokesman Dave Warner told FarmWeek. “When Smithfield announced it was going to phase out sow stalls, we didn’t have anything to say about it, other than that it was a business decision they’d made. “But making it a federal law sets a dangerous precedent, allowing the federal govern-
ment to dictate production practices for other livestock species. In this case, (HSUS and UEP are) taking it a step further and trying to codify it in federal law. “After this, the Humane Society is not going to have to spend any money to try to get rid of (poultry) battery cages. They’re going to pour it all probably on us. They’re going to go after the pork industry.” While no specific sponsor has yet been identified, Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) praised the measure at a Thursday news conference. Fellow Oregon Democrat Peter DeFazio previously sponsored a failed proposal to require producers supplying federal programs with meat,
milk, and eggs to comply with prescribed welfare standards. If the HSUS-UEP plan clears Congress, Warner fears it could easily be amended to regulate swine practices. HSUS was lead sponsor and the egg industry a key opponent of 2008’s California’s Proposition 2, which set new housing requirements for operations statewide. By January 2015, California producers must ensure layers are able to sit down, stand up, turn around and extend their limbs without touching another bird or the sides of an enclosure. Echoing fears voiced following passage of Prop 2, See Welfare, page 3
Senate/House committees OK FTAs; president up next Congress last week moved a step closer to approving long-delayed free trade agreements (FTA) with South Korea, Colombia, and Panama. In a legislative “mock markup” Thursday, the Democrat-led Senate Finance Committee voted to support the FTAs. Included in the mock vote was White House-supported renewal of Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) designed to help U.S. workers affected by offshore job movement. The Republican-led House Ways and Means Committee followed up with a similar vote, omitting TAA. The non-binding “markups” served as a recommendation to President Obama to submit FTA “implementing legislation” for a vote. American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) President Bob Stallman maintained “the process toward finalizing these
important trade deals is heading in the right direction.” Presidential action is now “imperative” to ensure the FTAs are voted on by Congress’ August recess. Stallman warned inaction on the agreements over the last four years “has opened the door to our competitors in these markets.” Further delays “will only exacerbate the losses for
U.S. agriculture and the U.S. economy,” he
said. In an RFD Radio-FarmWeek interview last week, freshman U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a Manteno Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade, reported “we have most of the freshman ‘class’ on board” for FTA pas-
FarmWeek on the web: FarmWeekNow.com
sage. He said he was hopeful “any of the differences between Democrats and Republicans have been hammered out.” “I expect we’ll see all three free trade agreements come up for a vote, I think within the month but definitely this summer,” Kinzinger said. “It’s high time, too. You look at South Korea, you look at Colombia and Panama: Every day that goes by where we’re not exporting to those countries (under an FTA), we’re losing that market share to nations like China. “I think we have a great opportunity. My confidence level in these three passing is sky-high right now.” The administration reportedly had reached agreement with House leaders to pass TAA as a condition of FTA approval. AFBF trade specialist David Salmonsen noted House leaders prefer to address TAA via separate legislation, but argued “everybody has to be dealing at some point with the same legislation” to assure final presidential approval. “I think we’ll be able to come to a full agreement,” Kinzinger maintained. — Martin Ross
Illinois Farm Bureau®on the web: www.ilfb.org