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The Battle HEATS UP |
BY GORDON D. SPRONK, DVM |
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While there are always new and different
problems that we face (remember PRV?),
two issues are of particular concern to
the swine industry today: the price of
corn and a changing attitude toward sow
crates.
On January 25, Smithfield, the
nation’s largest hog integrator, announced
it will no longer use gestation crates.
See Luke Minion’s article for more on the
ethanol question. I’ll just add this. In the worst-case scenario—
33% less corn for the livestock sector (assuming at
some point oil at $60 per barrel combines with drought and
high ethanol demand)—the swine industry would need to
reduce its size by 10% to 15%.
Other reports presume there will be no long-term impact,
predicting $40 to $50 oil, increased corn acres, and yields
exceeding demand. We should at least realize corn prices
may now be tied to the price of a barrel of oil.
Outlawed hog crates in Arizona
While corn price and availability are unsettling, an equally
disturbing issue is the action in Arizona to ban the use of
gestation stalls. Please visit the Arizona Web site that was
used to educate citizens about modern agriculture, www.azfarmersranchers.com and the
animal welfare Web
sites, www.hsus.org/farm and www.farmsanctuary.org
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The whole truth cannot be known by looking at one picture
or one sound bite, but that is what it comes down to as Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Arizona, (famous for humiliating
criminals) says he would not treat his prisoners that way.
In the agrarian tradition, animal husbandry care decisions
have always been left to the caretakers on the farm.
My grandfather and father never thought anybody would
care how the animals that they were raising for food were
housed and cared for. They assumed they knew best and
that consumers trusted that relationship.
Our society has changed; we have moved away from our
agrarian roots to an urban society, in which less than 2% of
our population raises the food for the other 98%.
As an industry, we may have been too successful. While we
manage to feed the world, keeping food both affordable and
safe, a minority of consumers are beginning to dictate how
that food will be raised.
I have come to believe that we are beyond debate with
this minority. Their true goal is not animal welfare, otherwise
why would they spend $2 million in Arizona on
TV ads when dogs and cats are being euthanized every
day? Rather, they hope to impose their minority vegan and
vegetarian views on the rest of society. As an industry we
need to stand up for what is right rather than stand idly by
while more laws restricting housing and animal husbandry
techniques are passed.
To reclaim the tradition of our agrarian fathers and forefathers,
we need to tell the whole story. Specifically, we
feed the world’s demand for safe, affordable food that is
nutritious and environmentally sustainable. Animals you
raise are well cared for and provide one of the best protein sources available in the world. People need to know |
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© Copyright 2006 - Pipestone System. All rights reserved |
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