Spittin’ mad. That’s the only way to put it.
The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) makes conventional U.S. livestock farmers downright, wet-hen, cat-in-a-blender, spittin’ mad. When HSUS manages to alter state constitutions to ban battery cages and gestation crates, well, you better start bringing guns to your knife fights, vegans.
To wit: Yellowtail Wine of Australia decided to pony up $100,000 for HSUS this week, and the pushback has been conducted at lightning speed. From Big Beef’s Drovers Magazine:
Yesterday we reported about Yellow Tail wine’s new promotion (http://tinyurl.com/yderv3g) to contribute $100,000 to the Humane Society of the United States“to support us and our programs to help animals, including our Spay Day Online Pet Photo Contest,” according to HSUS. Though it’s not known to what extent, Yellow Tail admits its customers are taking issue with this collaboration.
An e-mail Thursday afternoon to Yellow Tail US by Bovine Veterinarian editor Geni Wren questioned Yellow Tail’s contribution to an organization that spent less than one-half of one percent of its total budget according to 2008 tax documents in grants to organizations providing hands-on care to dogs and cats (source: Center for Consumer Freedom) and described HSUS’ activities to attack animal agriculture. This e-mail was met with an immediate response by the Yellow Tail company (albeit it was the same response that was sent to other organizations questioning their tactics).
The response from the ag sector was immediate. Amanda Nolz over at Beef Daily blog reported on this yesterday, exhorting readers to boycott Australia’s Yellowtail Wine and to join the company’s Facebook page and leave messages there.( Check it out — the anti-HSUS comments are up, down, and all over). There’s a Twitter hashtag devoted to organizing Big Ag “tweeps” on Twitter. Why, there’s even blogger/meatman Troy Hadrick, out sharing some pinot grigio with bossie (YouTube video below).
I mention all this because Michael Pollan, Eric Schlosser, Food, Inc, Joel Salatin, and frankly, groups like HSUS, have been taking potshots at the sitting-duck target of Big Ag with movies, books, articles, and Oprah appearances for years now. Much of it deserved in my opinion.
But guess what.
The agricultural sector isn’t sitting still anymore. They are now very well organized, frequently pissed off, and when they see a need for action, they move out, thanks to savvy use of social media. This revolution of theirs is not being televised — it’s on Twitter and Facebook.
I’m not saying that organic, sustainable, and farm animal rights folks aren’t organized. It’s just that no one should assume polluting CAFOs and poultry warehouses of 50,000 birds are just going to melt away. The battle has just gotten a lot tougher.
Because all of this is gearing up for a real battle royale in Ohio, where the Humane Society of the United States is pressing for a ballot measure this November that would “require the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board to adopt certain minimum standards that will prevent the cruel and inhumane treatment of farm animals, enhance food safety, protect the environment and strengthen Ohio family farms.” HSUS and its allies are going to throw a ton of money, activists, tweets, and status updates at this ballot in November, and I guarantee that Big Beef, Big Chicken, Big Pork, and its constituent farmers will do the same.
I’m just sayin:. If anyone thought the Food Revolution was going to be about voting with your fork, think again.
I’m a dairy farmer and even I made money last year. And we only milk 325 cows. I’m sorry but conventional small farms can still be very profitable. And yes, everyone in agriculture knows that the Pew Research Center is against agriculture just like HSUS. Also FYI: NAIS would require EVERY animal to be individually identified no matter how big of farm. And its obvious that you only joined Farm Bureau as an activist against farming so as you so eloquently put it, who cares what you say either?
David Brand
Brand Dairy Farm
As an activist, and a VERY small farmer (subsistance, really), I am offended by everything the HSUS pretends to be – essentially stealing money to carry on their private war against animal ownership.
http://activistcash.com/organization_overview.cfm/o/136-humane-society-of-the-united-states
The guy in the video dumping out the wine – he knows he bought the wine from Yellow Tail, right?
Reminds me of the anti-France nonsense at the start of the Iraq war – dumoing out French wine they had already bought and paid for, as if it hurt France somehow rather than their own wallets. Freedom fries indeed.
David,
Don’t be sorry, I’m glad that you’re making money. Our neighbor’s who have 60 cows are too (making money that is).
You don’t have to care what I’m talking about, but you don’t know what you are talking about. For sure, you don’t know why I joined farm bureau.
Have you looked at the HSUS website ? I don’t see that they are against agriculture. They are against cruelty and factory farming. Is animal cruelty part of agriculture ? Is factory farming all of agriculture ?! The corn and bean guys would sure be surprised.
So what else does everybody know ? Did you even read the Pew report on Industrial Farm Animal Production ? Which one of their points, references, or contributors do you disagree with or think is unqualified ? Without looking it up, what does Pew Research Center do?
BTW the average dairy herd in the US is about 130 cows…
Greg
I forget to respond to your comment on NAIS.
I’m not going to find and read the whole proposed regulation but http://www.dailyyonder.com/letter-langdon-surround-sound-nais/2009/06/10/2169 says “Large commercial feedlots would be exempt from individual animal ID requirements, with only one ID number required for all the animals inside.”
http://dragonwood.org/2009/03/21/hr-814-mandatory-nais-for-all/ says ” What’s wrong with NAIS? That’s not the question. What’s right about it? There is no research that says the many millions spent on it will be able to stop any disease outbreaks or help anyone deal with the situation. It is designed by Big Ag to benefit Big Ag and to penalize small farmers. For example, if your company grows hundreds of beef cattle at a time and ships them all in one batch from feedlot to slaughter, then you need exactly one tag, one registration for all these animals. But if you’re a small farmer with 60 sheep, trying to raise lambs for local sale, you have to register and track from birth to death every individual animal, every ewe and every lamb.”
http://www.farmandranchfreedom.org/content/corporate-control says “don’t forget that the factory confinement farms for poultry and hogs will be able to use group ID numbers, thereby avoiding individual tags, and reaping a huge savings in both time and money compared to small farmers.”
How many more do you want me to find ?
I to have do not drink yellow tail, not because they are supporting HSUS (afterall, I would support anybody that supports vegans) but because Yellow Tail is the epidimy of BIG AG!
Why is Yellow Tail BIG AG? Yellow Tail is owned by an Italian Company called Casella Wines Pty Ltd. They own several wines marketed under different names, as well as supply wine to several other manufactures. In 2000 they formed a new brand called yellow tail and based it out of austrailia, where its largest vinyard is that produces 3% of the worlds wine. In 2005 alone they sold over 7.5 million cases in the US alone. Their aggressive marketing techniques and dominace over the Australians wine market has ruined the Australian wine market, causing sour grapes for several family winery’s
More here: http://www.smh.com.au/national/yellow-tail-on-the-nose-20090405-9tde.html
G’ Day now
>I to have do not drink yellow tail…because Yellow Tail is the epidimy of BIG AG!
You boycott all Big Ag products?
I’m a little dismayed that you’ve characterized this response to [ yellow tail ] as coming from “Big Ag.” I guess I still am waiting to find out who exactly, “Big Ag” is. It seems that if we in agriculture do anything but drop our heads and say “ah, shucks ma’am” we’re characterized as Big Ag corportate farms. There couldn’t be anything further from the truth.
Oh well. Despite the impression that you seem to have, we’re still going home to our farm houses and our chores and our kids school plays and ball games.
Who is Big Ag? Well, that’s a very good question. From my angle, I’d say “Big” isn’t measured in acreage or income — it’s influence and privilege. If you’re an agricultural entity that has access to benefits from a Farm Bureau, a state commodity association, a Pork/Chicken/Beef/Egg/Llama marketing board, or one who receives federal direct subsidies, I’d say you enjoy the privileges of Big Ag.
Even if you’re a 75-acre farm, you can still be a junior partner in Big Ag, and probably are. But here’s the thing: There are differences between you junior partners — let’s call you “Small Ag” — and Big Ag. And the differences are in matters that deeply concern consumers right now: How you care for your animals, how you conserve your soil/land, and, while it might seem shallow, the fact that you do live real lives (school plays, ball games) on your farms. These things matter deeply to consumers.
Bizarrely, most Small Ag farmers deliberately refuse to distinguish themselves from Big Ag. These are the farmers who are jumping on HSUS now as the Common Enemy, because Small Ag loves its animals and will not tolerate being smeared by a rich non-profit with an aggressive lobbying arm.
Y’all do care for and love your animals. I believe that. And HSUS is a front for lobbying dollars. I believe that too.
But I don’t see Small Ag defining their own stories by calling out the “bad apples,” as they get called on #AgChat — the polluters who dump manure into river basins — it happens and you know it. You refuse to call out the big “farm” operations that don’t care about their animals. 50,000 birds in a single barn? That kind of “caring” is NOT like yours, Small Ag. And I don’t see Small Ag calling out the lobbying influence of Big Ag that helps consolidate and monopolize the milk industry at the expense of small dairies across the nation — a lobbying act paid for in part by Small Ag membership fees. Friends, there are members of Big Ag who conduct business in a way that completely smears the entire farming sector far worse than HSUS ever could. But consumers never hear that from Small Ag.
So the real question is not “Who is Big Ag?” The real question is “Where the hell is Small Ag?” And why are y’all carrying water for Big Ag who doesn’t give a rat’s ass about you?
Until y’all start defining yourselves from the Big Dogs who’re trashing your industry and market, yeah, I’m going to have to lump you together with Big Ag.
i really enjoyed reading this, you bring out alot of good points.
Guess we finally got your definition of big ag, any conventional family farmer!
Not so. See above.
I’d agree the big ag needs some explaining, regular twitter ag community and mainstream consumer/supporters are driving this endeavour. Individuals leaving facebook comments.
So is that collective “big ag”?
If anything, Big Ag is quiet. I haven’t seen any press releases, blogs, etc. from National Associations, Big Brands, etc.
Who benefits?
I haven’t seen any mainstream consumer supporters. I see farmers and ag professionals in a very well organized, social media response that ultimately benefits Big Ag far more than it benefits the farmers who, ostensibly, are doing the protesting.
It’s not “Big Ag” that’s against HSUS’s idealogy. It’s HSUS that’s against farm idealolgy. Whether large or small, organic or convention, local or regional or national…really doesn’t matter at all.
You seem a bit far removed from the farm
I don’t know what HSUS’s ideology is and I don’t care to guess — which is why I never brought it up in my piece.
El Dragon. You should have studied their ideology. I have Worked in Big At & grew up in small Ag. Been Reading and Listening, and quite frankly am tired of people like you who do not care about anti ag (HSUS’s ideology), and seem to only care about trying to convince people that there is a rift between those involved agriculture. Sounds to me like you don’t believe in agriculture period. Ag is Ag. You would serve AG better by being an activist. At least this way we in Ag would know who to really fight off. Go get a job with HSUS, it fits you better.
I don’t see how you think Farm Bureau is against “small ag”. The reason Farm Bureau exists is because they’re trying to protect small ag. What most people don’t think of is that the rules groups like HSUS are trying to put into place will effect small ag much worse than big ag. Big ag is just that, big. More money, more revenue streams. They’ll probably be able to abide by some crazy off the wall rule made by some empty shirt in an office that’s never even been on a farm. The small farmer will just give up not being able to afford to play by HSUS rules. Which is what HSUS really wants: an end to animal agriculture. HSUS claims a victory by getting a law passed banning horse slaughter in the U.S. Guess what that caused? Horses being released to the wild because people couldn’t feed them. Or worse yet, people just letting them starve. Which would be worse? A humane way of slaughtering them, or letting them starve to death. People, yourself included, need to look at what the unintended consequences could be. More restrictions in Ohio will end up being just like California. Higher food prices and a larger carbon footprint due to having to ship food into the state. The HSUS is a fund raising campaign playing on emotions. Less than 5% of their multi-million dollar income was used to protect & save animals. The rest lined the pockets of the empty suits at the top. The consequences people don’t think about will cause the end of small ag in America and you’ll have HSUS to thank for it.
The statement “If you’re an agricultural entity that has access to benefits from a Farm Bureau, a state commodity association, a Pork/Chicken/Beef/Egg/Llama marketing board, or one who receives federal direct subsidies, I’d say you enjoy the privileges of Big Ag” is way off the mark.
The cost to join Farm Bureau at the local level (county or parish in most states) is typically between $40 and $60 or so per year … which means ”access to benefits” as you call it is easily accessible by farmers and ranchers with all types and sizes of operations, at virtually any income level.
Perhaps others from state commodity associations and the others you mention may want to comment as well.
Farmers and ranchers from across the broad spectrum of American agriculture–large and small acreage, male and female, all types of crops and livestock–appear to be united in their outrage against a company they view as supporting an entity (HSUS) that ultimately threatens all of their livelihoods.
Are you feeling a little threatened by that??
Threatened? I’m impressed as hell by that, actually. If my admiration for the social media organization here didn’t translate, I’ll be more blunt: WOW! (As a amarketer and an activist, I really love that YouTube video of Troy. Brilliant.)
As for HSUS threatening all your livelihoods with ethical standards and animal welfare standards, I’m skeptical — because, fact is, the marketplace is headed in that direction anyway. If HSUS and PETA vanished today, the American consumer would still be asking the American livestock farmer for changes in practices. Wendy’s, McDonald’s, Burger King, and more interestingly, many new, regional chains are all buying meat far more selectively than they were 20 or even 10 years ago. And the American consumer is rewarding them for the change.
I don’t say the above with an ounce of glee in my heart. Believe it or not, I feel for livestock farmers facing this change. But this is the market reality, and fighting the tide is simply the wrong business strategy.
Our family has been lifelong members of Farm Bureau since forever. Our farm is a 100 cow 4th generation organic dairy. Not what I consider “Big Ag.” Membership in our county FB (which gives us membership in state and national FB) is only $64. With that membership we are able to a participate in one of the most influential grassroots organization in the nation. My husband Tim is our county president. Annually, our county brings forth resolutions (or issues) that our important to us. We discuss them with our entire county membership. State related issues are passed onto the state and debated by the entire state delegations. Then national in scope issues are passed on to the national level. When FB developes its policies (then in turn lobbies for them) it is not something that some staff in Washington DC just though of on a whim. Our (FB) policies are the beliefs of all our members for the benefit of all our members.
As for check-off, most check off is mandatory by law (big or small pay). Our diary check off funds research in nutrition and product development as well as promotion of our product (ie Got Milk).
I also would disagree that organic or sustainable farmers are not organized. Many are a part of groups like FB or Farmers Union. And why not, we are all farmers, right? Also, since you are from MN you should really think of attending the MOSES Conference held at the end of Feb in La Crosse. It is the largest organic conference in the nation. We will be there with our Farm Bureau booth.
Farmers are organized and it doesn’t matter what their operations looks like. This is just a different kind of organization than our grandparents did, so people are finally taking notice.
Emily
Zweber Farms
Emily, yes, I think I specified that I was not saying organic/sustainable groups aren’t organized (love me a double negative!) I’ve been very active in organizing in the sustainable food and farming community and hope to continue doing so. I was on the MOSES board of directors for 3 years, served on the MDA’s Organic Task Force, and have been attending the La Crosse conference since 2000. More plans in the pike, too.
As for the Farm Bureau, I’m glad it’s served you well and I’m certain the FB does help many, many farmers. But clearly, there’s another side to the story and agenda that has nothing to do with small farmers (key question: who made-check offs mandatory and where does that money go?), and it’s important to note that not all small farmers share your enthusiasm — see Greg Reynolds’ comments on the Farm Bureau below. It’s a common complaint I’ve heard.
Thanks for chiming in. I’m still very eager to see your farm some day soon!
It does look like the proponents of the industrial model of agriculture (Big Ag) are in a mood to fight. They have to, they are losing their market. People are becoming aware and aren’t at all excited about eating industrial products, no matter how cheap they are.
Food borne illness has exploded with the rise of the industrialization of farming. ”Cow Shit, It’s What For Dinner” is not very appetizing. Add antibiotic resistance, HFCS, etc. and there is no good news for consumers coming from the conventional / industrial ag sector. Consumers get a little scared, start looking around, and they don’t like what they find out about how their food is produced. They are looking for other options.
Most of the livestock in the US and most of the milk is produced on large scale confinement operations, animal factories. The reason being that the small guys have been wiped out. Livestock numbers have been about the same since the 50′s, but there are many fewer farms. Concentration in the livestock markets has eliminated any open market that may have existed and small farms became the OUT of ‘Get Big ot Get Out’. There are a few family farm holdouts, but by and large, the mom and pop family farm is just a bit of advertising fiction.
Agriculture has supposedly gotten more productive and efficient. None of those productivity gains are staying with the farmer, er, producer. How many dairy or pork producers made any money in the past two years ? Why does it take 3000 acres of grain to make a living now ? How is all that consolidation and industrialization working out for you ? Got any choices that you can afford to make in your operation ?
Anybody that thinks Farm Bureau is looking out for small producers is fooling themselves. We were members for one year, learned more about their policies and what they were pushing and got out. For example, FB’s supported NAIS. That would sure help small farms when they have to keep track of each animal and a CAFO could cover 10,000 with one permit. Now the NAIS is dead, FB is against it. Policies might start at the local level, but it does not look like any ideas that help small local farms are making it to the top. And who cares how cheap it is to join ?
If you want to get really stirred up, have a look at http://www.ncifap.org/bin/s/a/PCIFAPSmry.pdf , The PEW Center’s report on Livestock in America. Are they against agriculture too ? They must all want to starve or something.
Greg Reynolds
Riverbend Farm
Greg, are you on Twitter? Were you listening in on a converrsation I had last night with Jeff Fowle? If not, I want to point his out to you:
Bob Parker lays out the concerns of many small farmers re NAIS and the Farm Buerau:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uclq3YOhRbA
He was voted out of the Farm Bureau for his opposition to NAIS:
Parker found himself voted off the county Farm Bureau board when he confronted them about the information they were not putting out about NAIS as opposed to a letter sent to the USDA in support of mandatory implementation.
Parker also commented on how Farm Bureau calls itself a grassroots organization, yet none of the county Farm Bureau organizations in Missouri had seen the letter of support sent to the USDA by the Missouri State Farm Bureau. He challenged the Missouri Farm Bureau president to a debate any time; he wasn’t taken up on his challenge.
Parker commented that while NAIS has been in the works for 15 years, this was the first time the little guy had been given a chance to speak; after all the big guys got together and decided who, what, when, where and how much, they now condescended to give the little guy a chance to speak; not a voice but a chance to speak.
Greg, you seem to know alot about livestock meat/dairy farming and the meat industry itself. What do you grow or raise on your farm? Just wondering how far that “area of expertise” extends…reading about or actually living/doing it.
Thank you.
Nah, HSUS is a non-profit whose market reality is asking for donations, and that’s not my style. As for ag, I believe in farmer resilience, and I believe in farmers moving with marketplace demands. Do you? As I said above, HSUS and PETA could vanish tomorrow and it wouldn’t alter the fact that consumers are demanding stricter standards for “ethical” meat — argue with the definition all you like, but it won’t change the market demand. Now if Farm Bureaus and commodity boards can’t explain this marketplace reality and help farmers adjust to it (with fast food chains sourcing more “ethically raised” meat than ever before), then farmers, big and small, need to examine what good these groups are doing for them.
By the way: “Ag is ag”? Spoken like a good Big Aggie. Thanks for proving my point.
I think the most pertinent, salient remark in this whole discussion was made on Twitter by my pal @agchick (well, I’ll call her a pal — she may hate my guts after this discussion). She said:
And you don’t see smaller (by comp) ag attack bigger (by comp) ag b/c that’s not how we roll…Difficulty is most of us were raised 2 mind r own business and quietly not do biz w/ troublemakers.
That’s it in a nutshell and I totally recognize it’s difficult. For small farmers, “ag” is a community, not just a business, so it doeesn’t matter if you are talking about a dairy feedlot with 10,000 heads: You don’t rat on your neighbors in your community no matter who they are.
But my money says you’re going to have to do just that, farmers, to save the culture and community that you picture as “ag.” If you don’t, the big neighbors are going to force you out, blaming sustainable farmers and HSUS while doing it.
We raise organic produce. We have a few chickens, but no large animals. I have enough to do without looking after livestock everyday. Our family farmed. Our friends and neighbors farm.
The days of the ignorant dirt farmer are over.
Greg