LINCOLN — Several of Nebraska's major agriculture organizations have joined forces to combat what they call "extreme animal rights organizations" that they fear will start a campaign to outlaw certain livestock confinement practices in the state.
"We need to stand up for Nebraska agriculture, stand up for our way of life and stand up for Nebraska's economy," said Jay Rempe of the Nebraska Farm Bureau Federation.
Wayne Pacelle, chief executive officer of the Humane Society of the United States, said those fears are misplaced, if not manufactured outright.
"I have said many times, on the record, that we have no plans to conduct a ballot measure in Nebraska," he said. "They're fabricating a controversy that does not exist."
The formation of the new group, called "We Support Agriculture," was announced in press conferences Tuesday in Omaha and Lincoln and at Husker Harvest Days in Grand Island.
The Nebraska Cattlemen, Nebraska Farm Bureau, Nebraska Pork Producers Association, Nebraska Poultry Industries and Nebraska State Dairy Association each contributed $5,000 to start the effort. Organizers said they also are seeking support from other ag groups.
Leaders said they remain concerned that the U.S. Humane Society is mobilizing in Nebraska. The 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.
At issue are cages so small that they prevent animals from being able to stretch their limbs or turn around. Poultry cages, which are stacked in battery fashion, are used to house more birds in a barn and to reduce labor costs.
Gestation crates are used to prevent pregnant sows from attacking one another. Veal crates are used to produce tender meat, as well as to save labor costs and reduce the spread of disease.
The ag representatives said say the measures producers employ are to protect animals from the elements, predators and each other.
Pacelle said the U.S. Humane Society has reached agreements with ag groups in five states to phase out such practices. In July, it reached an agreement with the United Egg Producers to phase out battery cages by 2018 and replace them with larger cages that give birds more room to move around.
"We are not against agriculture," he said. "We're engaging with agriculture to improve the standards of care and also to provide economic certainty to the industry."
In Lincoln, representatives of the new ag group said they and Gov. Dave Heineman are unpersuaded. Heineman has said he does not trust the U.S. Humane Society and will fight the organization.
"In Nebraska, no deal, no compromise," Heineman said in December after a speech to the Nebraska Cattlemen.
"In the states where they've been successful, people sat back and waited. We haven't done that," said Pete McClymont, a Nebraska Cattlemen executive who is president of the new group.
Rempe said that by seeking regulations that will increase the price of food production, the Humane Society and other animal rights groups are working toward a long-term agenda that would eliminate animal-based food from American diets.
The Nebraska ag industry also established a pro-livestock ag group, Alliance for the Future of Agriculture in Nebraska, but its status as an educational nonprofit organization does not allow it to engage in political activities, McClymont said. The new organization was begun with political activity in mind, he said.
McClymont said that Nebraska farmers are caring people who properly care for their animals; that Nebraska agriculture is worth protecting as a $15 billion annual industry; and that extreme animal rights groups won't be satisfied until they stop people from eating meat.
Pacelle called the Nebraska effort "a charade" and said Nebraska agriculture was unwilling to address animal welfare problems.
"We think responsible farmers and ranchers should be on the forefront of animal welfare, and they shouldn't be positioning themselves as hostile to proper care of animals, which is what Nebraska ag leaders have been doing."
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