Menu

The tension was palpable when animal rights expert Wes Jamison held a lighter inches from an American flag in a room full of livestock producers.

"How does that make you feel," he asked.

Jamison, speaking at the Ohio and Indiana Farm Bureau's Livestock Trends and Issues Conference, emphasized that he has never burned a flag and never would. But he said Americans think about the flag the same way animal rights activists think about livestock.

He explained that burning a flag is not about destroying fabric; it's about dishonoring the values Americans believe the flag represents. In the same way, he said, the animal rights movement is not about saving animals -- it's about defending the human attributes activists believe animal have.

Jamison said it's inadequate for farmers to respond to activists using economic and scientific arguments.

"This is about morality, not evidence," he said. "If you think science or best management practices is going win this argument, then think again."

Jamison said agriculture exists in a "sea of urban world-view" in which most people interact with animals as members of their family. The question, he said, is "Why not animal rights?"

"You haven't even begun to make the (moral) argument why you should be allowed to do what you do to that pig," he said.

Jamison was one of several experts who spoke on topics, such as law, environmental regulations and public relations at the Sept. 6 conference in Ft. Wayne, Ind.

Hinda Mitchell, of the Columbus public relations firm the Cochran Group, warned that tighter environmental regulations have the potential to impact a farm's bottom line. She said farmers must tell their story in the media.

"If you're not willing to talk about your operation, there's somebody else who will," she said.

Mitchell showed media clips of how Ohio's poultry industry was able to obtain positive media coverage following criticism about environmental and animal rights issues.

"Your reputation can be your biggest asset or your biggest liability," she said.

Farmers also need to attend public meetings called by groups that oppose new or expanding livestock operations, said environmental attorney Jack Van Kley.

"The bad guys are winning in some cases because we're not showing up," he said.

He said some lawyers are starting to go into small communities to stir up fears about livestock operations in hopes of obtaining citizens as clients.

Bryan Black, a Fairfield County hog producer, saw how outrageous fears could be when he attended a public meeting about a new hog farm in his area. He said one man warned of a "tsunami of hog manure" that would flood the streets of the city if the farm was constructed.

But farmers can have a say in determining how environmental regulations impact them, according to Jon Scholl, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) counselor for agriculture policy.

Scholl, who worked for the Illinois Farm Bureau for 25 years, said agriculture should take a collaborative approach to working with the EPA. He said farmers face a "tremendous communication problem" in helping regulators understand the risks, diversity and huge production base of agriculture.

"I really do feel that we have an opportunity to change the culture of the regulatory process in (the EPA)," he said.

Caption: (l to r) David White, executive director of the Ohio Livestock Coalition, leads a panel discussion of livestock producers Jim Zehringer, Bryan Black and Lee Hatfield.