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| Ohio’s deal with HSUS will likely hurt state’s veal and livestock production |
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There are some that say that there are no clear-cut winners or losers in the agreement reached between Gov. Ted Strickland, Ohio’s ag commodity groups and the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) last week.
I am not so sure.
Under this agreement, all veal calves in Ohio must be raised in group housing by the end of 2017.
Independent research in France compared group housing for calves versus individual stalls.
Their findings were that in group pens there was twice the morbidity (sickness), twice the mortality (death), higher medication use and poorer growth performance (an indication of the animals ability to thrive), than in the individual stalls.
As of Jan. 1, 2009, Wisconsin’s largest veal packer mandated that they would no longer purchase veal calves raised in individual stalls. In a short 18 months, it is reported that 40-50 percent of the veal barns are no longer in production. Even some that converted to group pens have ceased to operate. Wisconsin had been the largest veal-producing state in the nation.
One of the intended or unintended consequences for the independent veal farmers in Ohio, is that they will have two choices. One, cease production and go out of business because of an unsustainable, unproven method of production. Two, turn to an integrator that will own the calves, pay or finance the conversion and pay the farmer for his investment in labor and facilities.
I have heard it said once that, “Politics is not what you are willing to stand for, but what you are willing to compromise on.”
In this case, with Gov. Strickland, Ohio’s ag commodity groups and HSUS; good, bad or indifferent, we now know what that is. Now, it will be interesting to see if they can make believers out of my calves that it was the right thing to do.
Robert E. Cochrell
Burbank, Ohio
(Cochrell is the seventh generation of his family to live on his farm, which was settled in 1840 and designated an Ohio Century Farm. He is also a Past President of the American Veal Assoc. and Ohio Veal Assoc.) |
| 7/15/2010 |
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