Animal practices are under attack Fallout from the Westland/Hallmark debacle continues. But it might already be considered a defining moment in the history of U.S. animal agriculture, for the sector is under attack as never before. Today, the issue is inhumane handling of spent dairy cows. Tomorrow, it will be hogs lying prone in a truck because of mild heat stress. After that, it might be the branding of calves. Under these circumstances, the livestock industry must urgently work together to get out front of the next "exposé." It must ask itself: What will the next video show? For there will be more. I am told that the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), which exposed the inhumane handling of cows at the Hallmark plant, already has a video of the "mishandling" of spent sows at another southern California plant. Make no mistake. There are animal activists who are dedicated to exposing any hint of cruelty to animals. What’s to stop PETA and other groups sneaking onto ranches, dairy farms and other open spaces to film scenes of distressed cattle and putting them on the Web? Producers beware—the big bad non-profit with a vegetarian agenda is after you. I was in Virginia recently to address cattlemen there. I congratulated them on keeping their beef cow herds largely intact after their terrible drought last year. I also suggested they keep their leanest cows that aren’t in the best of shape at the back of the farm, well away from anyone who might film them. A few days later, I joined a media teleconference hosted by HSUS during which Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut said the Westland/Hallmark episode clearly showed that the U.S. food safety system is collapsing. Rep. George Miller of California and HSUS President Wayne Pacelle made similarly emotive comments. That was all to be expected. What disappointed me was the absence of any kind of response or rebuttal statements by USDA or the industry. So all the media stories I read the next morning were totally unbalanced. Ordinary Americans might therefore reasonably believe that the food they eat has become less safe, when, as we know, the opposite is true. The U.S. meat and livestock industry urgently needs an industry-wide public relations body or mechanism to monitor and respond to every challenge and claim about industry practices and other issues as they arise. If the secretary of agriculture is unwilling to immediately rebut such outrageous accusations from members of Congress, then someone representing this vital sector of the U.S. economy must. There is a war going on for the hearts and minds, and I would add the stomachs, of all Americans. We can all sit back and say: "Well, Americans will always eat meat and poultry products." That’s true, but it is missing the point. If the industry continues to allow HSUS and others to make all the plays, the industry will have forced on it more and more legislative and regulatory restrictions that will make it even harder for people to stay in business. A shrinking of the industry will mean consumers will simply eat more imported products. The beef industry is already downsizing at the packing plant and cattle feedlot levels because of declining cattle numbers in North America. Current estimates suggest the feeding sector has 30 percent over-capacity and the packing sector 20 percent over-capacity even after Tyson Foods ceased slaughtering at its Emporia, KS, plant. I would be horrified if further downsizing occurs because the industry did not come together and act very rapidly to tell its story, be it on animal welfare or food safety, in a forceful, factual way. To do that, the industry must speak with one voice. It needs to have one or more highly credible spokesmen or women who can articulate to the American public that much of what HSUS and other industry critics are saying today, and will say tomorrow, is simply not true. The industry should also consider an extensive campaign to educate members of Congress with the facts as to food safety, animal welfare, and other management practices in the industry. The industry must take steps to anticipate what targets might be next and work to get ahead of any future attacks, be they on confined animal feeding operations, the use of growth promotants and other pharmaceutical tools cattle and hog producers use, branding, the castrating of male cattle and hogs, and other animal husbandry practices. The enemies of the beef industry, and U.S. animal agriculture, have identified themselves and have revealed their tactics. It is time for the meat and livestock industry to draw up its battle plan and counter-attack. — Steve Kay
(Steve Kay is editor/publisher of Cattle Buyers Weekly, an industry newsletter published at P.O. Box 2533, Petaluma, CA 94953; 707/765-1725. His monthly column appears exclusively in WLJ.)