Swine Animal Welfare: Working Toward the Future

By Sarah Watson, Livestock Editor
Thursday, April 12, 2007 11:13 AM CDT

Change is occurring in the swine industry. Ballot initiatives in two states have resulted in banning gestations stalls.

Major food chains and processing plants have announced they are converting to pens, or will only use products from "cageless" animals.

During a producer update meeting, organized by the Wisconsin Pork Association in Platteville last week, Charles Arnot, CMA Consulting, gave a synopsis on the Arizona ballot initiative, and his predictions for the future.

What happened in Arizona

In November of last year a ballot initiative calling for the ban of gestation crates by 2010 passed in Arizona. A similar ban had passed in Florida in 2002.

This ban only affected one producer in northern Arizona, and the main supporter of the initiative was the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS).

Arnot was part of the campaign that opposed the initiative last year. Even though Arnot calls the defeat "a pretty good bumping" losing the vote 62 to 38 percent, he learned about the groups behind the initiative, and strategies for being more successful in the future.

One success from the initiative was the solidarity of animal agriculture in the Campaign for Arizona Farmers and Ranchers.

"If not the best, it was one of the best statewide coalitions put together," he said. Dairy, beef, and swine groups joined forces and all fought against the initiative. "All of the barn yard stayed together."

The Campaign for Arizona Farmers and Ranchers felt they didn't have enough time to educate the voters about gestation stalls, and decided to run their campaign strictly against the opposition.

"Prop 204 is hogwash" became the slogan, and it was effective.

Polls were taken of 500 voters beginning in 2005. The poll showed that 78 percent would vote "yes" to the ban, while only 16 percent "no". In September 2006, once the Hogwash campaign was in full swing, the "no" vote increased from 10 percent to 26, and yes's dropped to 57 percent.

In the end, the proposition passed with 62 percent voting in favor and 38 percent against.

During the campaign the media requests to tour the facility were denied.

"That decision became an issue in the campaign," he said. "The public assumed the worst."

Since the public wasn't allowed to see inside the facility they felt the producer "was hiding something".

Ultimately the Hogwash campaign lacked a center spokesperson and major endorsements, he explained. The HSUS had several endorsers including major newspapers; small vets; Paul Harvey; Sheriff Joe Arpaio, "America's toughest sheriff"; and the granddaughter of Cesar Chavez.

The Hogwash campaign was endorsed by 25 large animal vets, 30 state legislators, and some rural newspapers.

"This issue is much more mainstream that I thought," he said, also adding the Hogwash campaign didn't have the manpower of the yes campaign.

The yes campaign had over 1,000 volunteers that went door-to-door collecting signatures.

Only one other issue in Arizona, banning gay marriages, has collected more signatures than the 218,000 collected to ban sow stalls, he said explaining the magnitude of the initiative.

The Hogwash campaign trained 35 speakers that gave a total of 52 presentations.

"Every time we sent a letter to the editor they sent 6 or 7," Arnot said describing the manpower Hogwash was up against. "It was crucial the industry got involved."

The Hogwash campaign was still able to increase the number of voters against the proposition by 20 percent, and HSUS became frustrated with the opposition.

The HSUS has 23,000 constituents in the 435 congressional districts in the United States giving them greater political muscle and money.

"They are quite comfortable going to state capitals," he said. The messages the HSUS are sending are hitting home with mainstream America.

Who's next?

The HSUS is still a threat to animal agriculture in the United States, but currently the marketplace is sending its own messages with its banning of sow stalls.

"I think the marketplace is a much more imminent threat," he said, but thinks HSUS will continue its battle.

States where simple majority ballot initiatives could take place are Utah, Illinois, Ohio, Missouri, and Colorado.

"I think Colorado is the closest thing to a slam dunk," he said. "They're custom to having initiatives."

Looking to the future

"It's going to take a sophisticated, multi-message campaign to compete on this issue in the future," he explained.

The proper messages are the key to success. "We have to give the message that sow gestation stalls are ok," he said.

Arnot thinks allowing the media inside operations will help. "We're going to need to find a way to let the media in," he said stressing the importance of the media. One suggestion is to have the media come for one day, on the producer's terms.

Currently, the industry is looking at methods that appeal to the mainstream for future campaigns.

"We need to make sure we keep the support of the rationale majority," he said. He added that in Arizona, the Hogwash unexpectedly lost the rural votes by 50,000, and for future campaigns getting the rural vote will be important.

Non-governmental organizations (NGO's) will also play a role in the future. Ten companies sell 75 percent of the food, and currently NGO's, like HSUS and Greenpeace are partnering with the companies.

In January, Smithfield announced a ban of gestation stalls over the next ten years, followed by Burger King's announcement in March that they are moving away from suppliers that use sow gestation stalls and caged chickens.

"We're beginning to see this pick up momentum," he said. "Activists see more promise in partnership with brands than with traditional methods of change."

"I think you're going to see additional brands move away from sow stalls," he said. "I think we will continue to see more pressure."

Arnot believes the time is now to prepare for the future. "I simply say the time is now, the situation has been had."

Wisconsin Pork Association

The Wisconsin Pork Association (WPA) is appointing an animal welfare committee in regards to the changing environment.

"There is absolutely no doubt that this issue will be the issue of the decade," Mike Wehler, director of member services for the WPA.

A new quality assurance program, PQA Plus, will make its debut at the 2007 World Pork Expo. It will address the current issues facing pork producers.

"The challenge will be to get every producer in Wisconsin to sign up for PQA Plus," Wehler said. "It will provide assurance through a program that the industry accepts and the food industry accepts."

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