Ohio Voters Favor Livestock Standards Board

Chris Torres
Staff Writer

A referendum that would create a livestock standards board in Ohio passed by a decisive vote on Tuesday.

Voters in the Buckeye State voted 64 percent to 36 percent to pass Issue 2, the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Amendment, which would create a 13-member board consisting of farmers, experts in food safety, the state’s veterinarian, and consumer groups that would be tasked with establishing animal welfare standards in the state.

The votes comes as a blow to the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) which had targeted the state for more sweeping reforms of its animal welfare standards.

Of the 88 counties reporting election results, only one county voted against the measure.

The idea of a livestock standards board was born out of a meeting earlier this year between HSUS and ag officials in the state, where HSUS made it known that they would be pushing for tougher livestock standards.

Last year, HSUS spent millions of dollars in advertising in California to promote Proposition 2, a bill that makes big changes to animal confinement standards in that state.

Critics of the measure have stated that the bill will put many farms out of business because of the cost of meeting the new standards.

Fearing that a similar referendum would be proposed in Ohio, ag leaders pushed forward with the idea to create the livestock standards board.

John Lumpe, president of the Ohioans for Livestock Care Political Action Committee, the main group that pushed to get the bill passed, issued a prepared statement on the election results Wednesday morning:

“Ohioans have spoken and clearly understand that a board of experts is the appropriate entity to make decisions on behalf of animal agriculture and food production in our state. Passage of Issue 2 is a win for everyone who acknowledges the essential relationship between excellent farm animal care and a safe, affordable, locally grown food supply. Voters agree with Ohio’s farm community and our diverse base of supporters — decisions about food and farming should be made in Ohio, by Ohioans.”

But don’t count on the issue disappearing anytime soon.

“We expected the results. We did not run a single paid ad against Issue 2,” said Paul Shapiro, senior director of the factory farming campaign for HSUS.

He said the organization is looking at other possible options including getting a constitutional amendment placed on the ballot that would, among other things, ban veal crates and battery cages in the state.

Shapiro called the actions of ag groups in Ohio “provocative” given the fact other states, he said, have worked cooperatively with HSUS on improving animal welfare standards.

“I think many Ohio voters believe Issue 2 was a pro-animal measure. Virtually all animal welfare groups in the state opposed it,” he said.

Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States, issued a prepared statement on the results which included the following:

“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.

“We have not viewed Issue 2 as a poisonous 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.

“Now that the Issue 2 campaign is over, we can get on with such real reform — a measure to phase out the extreme confinement of animals in veal crates, gestation crates, and battery cages, where they cannot even turn around and stretch their limbs. Both sound science and common sense show that these confinement systems are inhumane and should be phased out.”

Many ag groups outside the state watched the results closely.

Bob Stallman, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), said in a prepared statement: “Members of Farm Bureau in Ohio worked hard in support of State Issue 2, a measure to establish the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board ... Voters made a solid statement that acknowledged the role farmers play in caring for farm animals and providing a safe and quality food supply in the Buckeye State. Clearly, Ohio has blazed a bold new trail for other states to follow on the issue of livestock care and well-being. It is clear that voters in that state know farmers and ranchers share their values regarding the care of farm animals.”

The Pennsylvania Farm Bureau was also watching the vote, given the fact the state borders Ohio and agriculture is the number one industry in both states.

“We recognize Ohio and Ohio agriculture for the really good job they did in this campaign,” said Mark O’Neill, communications coordinator for the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau.

Since Pennsylvania does not have a ballot referendum system like Ohio, voters do not have the ability to vote on specific measures such as those HSUS has pushed for in other states.

But that doesn’t mean the organization can’t influence any discussion on animal welfare.

O’Neill said Farm Bureau has encouraged producers to talk to consumers about the way food is produced to create connections and build an understanding of the issue on both sides.