OAK BROOK, Ill. — McDonald’s Corp., one of the nation’s largest buyers of pork, has reached an agreement with the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) to require its pork suppliers to quit using gestation stalls.

The impact of that decision will ultimately impact pork producers across the country, but it’s too early to tell how big of an impact it will have, said Dave Warner, communications director for the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) in Washington, D.C.

The NPPC is working with McDonald’s on a timetable to implement the new guidelines, said Warner, adding the organization would like the change phased in over a long period of time to minimize the economic impact on famers.

“If the industry was forced to comply by 2020, that could be devastating,” said Warner. “I had one Farm Credit lender tell me that over the last couple of years he’s written an awful lot of loans for barns and all of them have stalls. Those buildings have a 30-year life and to change that would be very costly.”

Warner said that’s the situation farmers find themselves in because of changing consumer attitudes and an aggressive approach to animal husbandry by organizations such as HSUS and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).

In making the announcement, Dan Gorsky, senior vice president of McDonald’s North American Supply Chain, said, “McDonald’s believes gestation stalls are not a sustainable production system for the future. There are alternatives that we think are better for the welfare of the sows.

“McDonald’s wants to see the end of sow confinement in gestation stalls in our supply chain. We are beginning an assessment with our U.S. suppliers to determine how to build on the work already under way to reach that goal.”

Gorsky said the company expects to have a report to review in May and will then formulate plans on how and when to implement the changes.

Josh Balk, a spokesman for HSUS, said the organization has worked with McDonald’s for several months. “Farm animals shouldn’t be confined in crates so small they can’t move around,” said Balk, who pointed to a similar agreement reached with egg producers late last year.

“It’s always been our goal to work with farmers and scientists to increase the welfare of animals raised for food,” he said.

He added consumer surveys show 95 percent want animals to be raised humanely on the farm. Balk said that message is being heard by major pork producers around the country and already, Smithfield, Cargill and Hormel have announced plans to phase out gestation stalls.

Last Thursday, Compass Group of Charlotte, N.C., announced it would require the elimination of all gestation stalls from its suppliers by 2017. Compass operates more than 10,000 cafeterias across the country in schools, at universities, for corporations and at major sporting and entertainment events such as the U.S. Open and Academy Awards.

“Animal welfare is an important issue to our clients, our guests and our company,” said CEO Steve Sweeney. “We are proud to be the first large foodservice company to make this commitment.”

Balk said that out of the agreement will come ways to show farmers the change can be done profitably. He said one of the biggest positives from the agreement with McDonald’s is not the eventual elimination of gestation stalls, but the fact that HSUS, food suppliers and farm organizations are talking.

“For too long we’ve not talked to each other and that’s created misconceptions on both sides,” he said.

HSUS cited research by Colorado State University researcher Dr. Temple Grandin, who has designed livestock handling facilities around the world.

“Moving from gestation stalls to better alternatives will improve the welfare of sows and I’m pleased to see McDonald’s working with its suppliers toward that end,” said Grandin. “It takes a thorough plan to address the training of animal handlers, proper feeding systems and the significant financial investment and logistics involved with such a big change.”

Warner doesn’t disagree with that, and said the costs will be felt not only by producers, but also by consumers. “There are lots of concerns we have about animal well-being, worker safety and productivity,” said Warner. “Some people say free-range is the way to go, but not if you don’t have someone to look after them.”

By converting from gestation stalls to pens in which 10-12 pregnant sows could be placed opens a whole new set of animal husbandry problems. “If you have that many angry pregnant sows in one place, there’s going to be fighting, biting and other problems, and that’s not good,” he said.

Warner explained there are good reasons why pork producers use gestation stalls, but the public doesn’t know about that. “We use them because we’re better able to care for the animals,” he said.

The NPPC was not caught unaware by the announcement. He said the industry saw the change coming as soon as the HSUS and United Egg Producers (UEP) signed an agreement last year to start using larger cages for hens.

“We sort of knew we were next,” said Warner. “I think McDonald’s took the publicity about the industry into consideration. Their goal is to protect their brand, but I think what HSUS did was tell the public only a little bit of where their food comes from by focusing on one small part of the industry that doesn’t look good.”

He said the deal between HSUS and UEP was strictly the business of those two groups, but now an effort is being made to translate that to other species.

“Consumers are going to pay more for eggs,” Warner said. “The new cages are twice as big and that means you won’t be able to get as many hens in a barn as before. That means you either cut production in half or you build a new barn, which means a whole lot of additional capital costs.

“And that doesn’t include heating the place, which causes a bigger carbon footprint. I don’t think anyone thought about that, or if they did, they didn’t care.”

If that happens with pork production, he said consumers should be prepared to pay more. He said it’s also worrisome some of the changes in the HSUS agreement are being considered in federal legislation that would mandate animal husbandry practices by all livestock producers.

“We don’t want this mandated. We’ve changed our practices when the market demands it,” said Warner. “Twenty-five years ago consumers told us there was too much fat in our product and they quit buying it. We changed, and now we produce a leaner product. If changes are mandated by the government, that’s going to put people out of work.”