LINCOLN -- Several of Nebraska's major agriculture organizations have joined forces to combat what they describe as "extreme animal rights organizations."
The Nebraskans fear the groups will mount a campaign to outlaw certain livestock confinement practices in the state.
The group - called "We Support Agriculture" or WSA - was to announce its formation Tuesday in news conferences scheduled in locations across the state, including in Omaha, Lincoln, and Grand Island at Husker Harvest Days.
Nebraska Cattlemen, Nebraska Farm Bureau, Nebraska Pork Producers Association, Nebraska Poultry Industries and the Nebraska State Dairy Association each contributed $5,000 to start up the effort.
Organizers said they also are seeking the support of other ag groups.
Organizers say they remain concerned that the Humane Society of the U.S. is mobilizing in Nebraska.
The national group mounted petition drives in California and Arizona that resulted in restrictions on battery cages for chickens, gestation crates for sows and crates for veal calves. In Ohio, agriculture groups voluntarily agreed to phase out the tight confinement practices in the face of a petition drive.
In appearances in Lincoln in November 2010 and in Omaha this summer, the group's CEO, Wayne Pacelle, said his group has no plans to mount a Nebraska petition drive and wants to work with agricultural interests to find mutually agreeable solutions.
Representatives for the Nebraska ag group said in a news conference outside the State Capitol they neither they nor Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman have been persuaded.
In interviews and public statements, Heineman has said he does not trust the Humane Society of the U.S. or Pacelle, and that he will fight the organization.
“In Nebraska, no deal, no compromise," Heineman said in December, after a speech to the Nebraska Cattlemen. "We're going to stand up, we're going to beat them. They'd be better off going somewhere else, because they're going to lose if they stay in Nebraska.”
Pete McClymont, a Nebraska Cattlemen executive who is serving as president of the new Nebraska group, echoed Heineman: "Like the governor said, we will not negotiate with them. In the states where they've been successful, people sat back and waited. We haven't done that."
Jay Rempe, an executive with the Farm Bureau, said that by enacting regulations that will increase the price of food production, the Humane Society of the U.S. and other animal rights groups would fulfill a long-term agenda to eliminate animal-based food from American diets.
The Nebraska ag industry previously established a pro-animal agriculture group, A-FAN or Alliance for the Future of Agriculture in Nebraska. But that group can't engage in political activities because of its status as an educational nonprofit organization, McClymont said. WSA was organized with political activity in mind, he said.
McClymont said that Nebraska farmers are caring people who properly care for their animals. Agriculture is a $15 billion annual industry that is worth protecting, he said.
For a link to a web video produced by the ag group, go to www.WeSupportAg.org.
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