By DOUG GRAVES
Ohio Correspondent

LEBANON, Ohio — Warren County Farm Bureau members had their annual dinner/meeting earlier this month. Such gatherings are normally tepid in nature – however, that was not the case this year.
Jeff Wuebker, president of the Ohio Soybean Assoc. and a owner of a 550-contract sow operation in Darke County, was the guest speaker at this year’s event. Wuebker, who produces 11,000 weanling pigs a year on his farm, warned his audience of 200 that the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and others are spearheading efforts to reverse the results of last November’s vote, which gave approval of an industry-dominated board to oversee livestock care.

“We all need to be ambassadors for the farmer,” he told the gathering. “We are the ones who feed the nation and we’re the ones who care deeply for the humane treatment of our animals. The HSUS and others are now wanting to tell the Livestock Care Standards Board what standards to put in place. Their efforts will put many industries, such as my farm, at risk. They’ll also put my son’s future at risk. And their efforts will only increase the costs for consumers.”

Wuebker used a slide presentation to show the humane steps his farm has made to ensure proper care for his animals, and its surroundings. But not everyone in attendance was in agreement with Wuebker. A few rebuffed his claims and had their own concerns about farmers’ use of enzyme injections, animal treatment and animal confinement.

That’s when U.S. Rep. Jean Schmidt, a Republican from Ohio’s 2nd District, grabbed the microphone and chimed in.

“We are the breadbasket of the world because we have the best practices,” she said. “Farmers in our nation are under multiple attacks and we need to make sure the American public understands this. I will continue to fight against such things as cap-and-trade, and anything else that hurts the American farmer.”

Last November, voters in Ohio approved the creation of a 13-member Livestock Care Standards Board by a vote of 65-35 percent. The measure was designed to thwart efforts of animal rights groups, such as HSUS, that are intent on outlawing the close confinement of laying hens, breeding sows and veal calves.

Wayne Pacelle, HSUS president and CEO, is spearheading the effort to put another issue on the ballot for Ohio voters – this time, hoping for a change in the outcome. “By packaging Issue 2 as pro-animal welfare and pro-food safety, the architects of the ballot measure went a long way to assure its passage,” Pacelle said. “We have not viewed Issue 2 as a poisoned package, but rather an empty one. The Ohio Farm Bureau and other agribusiness lobby groups cooked it up in an effort to block real reform.”

HSUS, the American Humane Assoc. and related groups are hoping to have enough signatures in 44 of the 88 Ohio counties to put another issue before Ohio voters next November.