Ohio voters to decide on board affecting farm animals

By Marc Kovac

State Issue 2 would create a board to set care standards for raising farm animals.

COLUMBUS — Supporters, including the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation, say it’s the best way to ensure a safe, affordable food supply for Ohioans and properly care for Ohio livestock.

Opponents, including the Humane Society of the United States, say it’s a movement by large agribusiness interests to prevent meaningful reforms in livestock care standards.

It’s up to Ohio voters to decide whether the state should allow the creation of a board to establish standards for raising and caring for farm animals.

State Issue 2 on the November general election ballot is a constitutional amendment that would establish a 13-member Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board, including representatives from family farms, agricultural organizations, food safety experts, veterinarians, consumers and county humane societies.

The board would work to create standards for biosecurity on farms, animal-disease prevention and food safety and affordability. And the Ohio Department of Agriculture would be responsible for administering and enforcing the standards.

Statehouse Democrats and Republicans and Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland all have endorsed the amendment, and it’s one of the few pieces of legislation that have made it through the divided legislature’s chambers in recent months.

State Sen. Bob Gibbs, a Republican from Lakeville and primary sponsor of the resolution that placed the issue before voters, said consumers are concerned about their food supply. The standards established by the board would ensure animals “are raised humanely and cared for based on research and sound science,” he said.

The constitutional amendment is a preemptive strike against outside efforts to regulate the livestock industry. In California voters last year OK’d a proposition supported by the Humane Society of the United States allowing criminal charges against farmers for confining certain animals in a way that prevents them from turning around, standing up or lying down.

Issue 2 supporters say they’re trying to stop the same kind of move in Ohio. Ohioans for Livestock Care, a group backing the ballot issue, said in a released statement: “Out-of-state activist groups have signaled they would like to bring an initiative to Ohio that would set rigid, inflexible and impractical rules for how livestock and poultry are housed. This would lead to higher costs for consumers, put food safety at risk, increase the amount of food imported to Ohio, cause thousands of farmers to go out of business, and endanger the overall health and well-being of Ohio’s flocks and herds.”

But the Humane Society of the United States has criticized Ohio lawmakers for moving forward with a constitutional amendment, instead of working in good faith with the group and others to develop legislation on the issue.

The latter approach was taken by Michigan lawmakers, where a new law is set to take effect “requiring that egg-laying hens, breeding pigs and veal calves have enough space to engage in basic movement.”

“Issue 2 is not only a public relations stunt designed to give the appearance of reform in Ohio, but also a constitutional roadblock put on the ballot to prevent future reform efforts to improve animal welfare,” Wayne Pacelle, president and chief executive officer of the Humane Society of the United States, said in a released statement.