Last week an animal welfare meeting was held by the California State Board of Food and Agriculture in Sacramento.
Dave Daley, PhD, professor at Chico State University and California Cattlemen’s Association member spoke at the meeting that included reps from animal industry groups as well as animal welfare groups. Daley says that the food-animal industries of California made an impressive showing at this meeting.
“It was critical that we were there for the State Board to recognize the scope and importance of animal agriculture,” says Daley. “Our state veterinarian (Dr. Annette Whiteford) did a great job showing how large animal agriculture is in this state. We are the #1 dairy state, #6 in beef cattle, #2 in sheep and top-10 in poultry. Agriculture in California is so diverse and large that people tend to forget the size of animal agriculture because they get so focused on crops like avocadoes, almonds, walnuts, etc.”
Daley notes that there are roughly 50 commodities California supplies to the nation and worldwide, but “…sometimes people forget about animals in the #1 agricultural state with over $33 billion in sales.”
Daley believes the meeting might have been better if there had more representation from animal activists groups. “I only say that because to a certain extent, we were preaching to the choir telling each other what a good job we do. We need to create a more open dialogue with those who disagree. We at least need to engage them in discussion. With that said, I was very proud of animal agriculture for their being willing to show up en force.”
Originally, the program for this meeting seemed to favor the animal activist groups, so the food-animal groups took the initiative to talk to the organizers to make sure the agenda represented all sides. Daley e-mailed the meeting chairmen to express concerns, and as a result of several contacts, the agenda was modified to more accurately include current practices by each commodity group.
“Be there and be prepared,” Daley says. “If it is a public meeting, at very least there is usually a public comment period at the end where everyone gets a fair shot. At our meeting, each member of the public was given three minutes. If you weren’t on the agenda and have a point to make, use that time wisely. Be prepared, articulate and make sure you aren’t saying the same thing that five other speakers have offered.”
Daley says at this meeting the ag sector generally did well and represented their commodities effectively, but he would challenge those in the livestock industry who would say their only problem is effective communication. “Really?” he asks. “If we continue to pretend that we can’t improve animal welfare we look like we don’t care and have our heads in the sand. Wouldn’t we be better off explaining animal production is constantly evolving, and our evolving practices will continue to improve welfare of farm animals?”
Daley says animal agriculture groups also should not hide behind science and economics. “We need to work on ethics at the same time. Just saying ‘we like animals or we wouldn’t be in business’ doesn’t sell well if there is a compelling video of animal cruelty showing at the same time.”
The Humane Society of the United States also contributed to the meeting, and Daley says they did a good job. “Their rep is very articulate, prepared and comes across as both reasonable and very bright. She may be promoting an anti-animal agriculture view, but it doesn’t come out that way. She was effective and probably a big reason why Prop 2 carried overwhelmingly on the ballot in California.”
Daley says there also were a couple of other people present during the public comment period who made it clear they wanted animal agriculture to go away. “I made it clear in my initial presentation that extremists (on both sides) rarely help to do anything but create conflict.”
Daley notes that this conference demonstrated that the livestock industry has to be willing to be critical of ourselves and self-evaluate. “The animal welfare task force that I co-chaired for the California Cattlemen’s Association carefully and thoroughly looked at all of our most invasive practices and asked ‘which ones will create the greatest challenges for us? What can we do about them in the short and long term?’.
Daley says this is about being proactive rather than reactive. “In many cases we have already lost the national debate on these issues in the minds of the public. Just saying the ‘status quo is good enough’ won’t get us anywhere. We need to learn to listen to those who disagree with us rather than just get frustrated. It doesn’t mean we have to give in, but we need to be willing to engage in meaningful discussions.
“If we are seen as evolving and changing, society will let us do this ourselves,” Daley continues. “If we are not, then we will be faced with increasing regulation, legislation and litigation. I don’t want to be told how to raise animals -- so we need to police ourselves and if we aren’t willing to embrace change, we should at least be willing to consider it.”
Read a report on the meeting from Dairy Herd Management’s Megan Pierce here.
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