FRANKFORT, Ky. — The Kentucky Board of Agriculture (KBA) passed regulations for farm animal care in the state, much to the chagrin of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and its Kentucky director, Pam Rogers.

Legislation in 2010 set up the Livestock Care Standards Commission, to come up with the guidelines for agriculture animal care in Kentucky. Those guidelines should have been passed by the KBA during the Richie Farmer administration but were not, according to current Ag Commissioner James Comer.

He said when he took the office, the process started from scratch and took some time to complete, but everything voted on by the board was based on research.

“Everything that the Livestock Care Standards Commission submitted and the Board of Agriculture approved was based on research facts from the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture,” Comer said. “It is our goal in agriculture to be humane to the animals we raise. It’s in our best financial interest, and we all want to do that and we do.”

The HSUS is concerned about practices allowed by the standards, such as docking the tails of dairy cows, housing egg-laying hens in cages and penning sows in gestation crates.

The organization has complained in the past the Livestock Care Standards Commission has not abided by open meeting standards, but Comer said HSUS knew about it, it was advertised and the media knew about it. He also said the meeting took about four hours to complete but the representative from the HSUS only stayed for the first hour-and-a-half, leaving before the vote.

Rogers said in a statement, “Instead of allowing the public to take part in this process, the commission and commissioner are intent on merely rubber-stamping some of the worst forms of animal cruelty opposed by both veterinarians and the public.”

But Comer noted what the HSUS representative had to say in that meeting had no effect on the KBA’s decision to vote for the standards unanimously. He also said HSUS will also have another chance to voice its opinions as the standards passed by the board still has to go before a review committee.

“This is something that should have been done, quite honestly, probably two years ago. It’s finally been done and hopefully the administrative review committee will approve it,” Comer said.

Much of what HSUS wants by way of animal care standards are not realistic to larger-scale animal agriculture production, said Comer, but he added there is a demand for food produced the way the HSUS wants, and consumers will choose to pay a premium for that.

“If every consumer in the U.S. is willing to pay triple for their food to be grown the way they (HSUS) want it to grow, then the market will dictate that,” he said. “But right now they’re not.

“Our goal is to promote agriculture and in order to promote it and make it viable to farms, you have to meet the demands of the consumers, and we’re providing the products that the consumer demands and we are doing it in a humane manner.”

Comer also said his administration and agriculture in general has to do a good job in telling their side of the story and proving farmers are humane. In an Associated Press report, Kentucky Farm Bureau spokesman Jeff Harper said it is happy with the standards, which will “protect animal agriculture” in the state.

“Not only in Kentucky, but in America, our farmers are trying to feed an ever-growing population. Buying local is good, and people should become more aware of their food sources,” Harper said.

“It’s critical for the public to understand that it’s in the farmers’ best interest to take proper care of their livestock and poultry, to help their bottom line.”