In July 2009, the Ohio Senate and House of Representatives voted to place a constitutional amendment on the November 2009 ballot to create the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board (LCSB), to oversee animal agriculture in Ohio.

This 13 member board was to be granted sweeping authority under the constitution to regulate all horse, poultry, cattle, swine, alpaca, llama, sheep, and goat producers in the state—whether they raise a million hogs in confinement or three backyard chickens.

The idea for the board came about after the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) announced that it would work to restrict some of the most extreme livestock confinement practices, such as battery cages and veal tethering, on the ballot in 2010.

In an attempt to preempt HSUS, the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation, the Ohio Pork Producers Council, the Ohio Poultry Association, the Ohio Dairy Producers Association, the Ohio Cattlemen’s Association, the Ohio Soybean Association, and the Ohio Corn Growers Association, spent $4 million convincing voters in fall 2009 that Ohio needed a LCSB to ensure “safe, local food." Two-thirds of voters voted to approve the constitutional amendment, after opponents, including OEFFA, were outspent 40:1.

After approval of the ballot measure, the implementing legislation for the LCSB introduced in the House, HB 414, was passed by the full House on March 10 with a vote of 98 to 0.

OEFFA’s Executive Director, Carol Goland, provided testimony at the hearings focused on concerns that any rules passed by the board might conflict with the national organic standards and the absence of any representation for organic producers on the board. Thanks to this testimony, the House voted to approve an amendment specifying that any rules adopted by the board that would conflict with the National Organic Program (NOP) standards could not apply to certified organic livestock producers.

After legislators balked at the idea of a fifteen cent per ton tax on animal feed to fund the board’s operating costs, the Senate’s version of the bill, SB 233, was amended to allow the Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) to fund the board using private donations, grants, and civil penalties. After OEFFA raised objections about the potential conflict of interest that could result from agricultural interests funding their own oversight, ODA Director Boggs committed to seeking legislative changes which would prohibit the board from accepting donations from the regulated entities. To date, those legislative changes have not been made and Governor Kasich's ODA Director, Jim Zehringer, has yet to make a similar commitment.

Additionally, as a result of concerns raised by OEFFA, language in the legislation explicitly states, “The Ohio livestock care standards board shall not create a statewide animal identification system.”

Just one week after SB 233 was signed into law, Governor Strickland named his appointments to the Board: state veterinarian Dr. Tony Forshey; Dr. Leon Weaver of the Ohio Livestock Coalition and Ohio Dairy Industry Forum; Jeff Wuebker, President of the Ohio Soybean Association; Dr. Bobby Moser, OSU Dean of the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences; Dr. Jeffrey LeJeune, an OSU professor for OARDC; Harold Dates, the President of the SPCA of Cincinnati; Dr. Jerry Lahmers, a feedlot operator in Tuscarawas County; Lisa Hamler-Fugitt, the Executive Director of the Ohio Association of Second Harvest Foodbanks; Robert Cole, a retired USDA official; and Stacey Atherton, co-owner of Shipley Farms in Licking County. Additionally, Bill Moody and Dominic Marchese were named by the Ohio Senate President and Speaker of the House, respectively.

The board held its first meeting in Reynoldsburg on April 27 and a series of six regional “listening sessions” throughout May to solicit public comment. OEFFA successfully organized at least 35 members to attend and speak out at these listening sessions.

As a result, the board acknowledged that “one size does not fit all” and that there is a need to have a diversity of scale represented on the species subcommittees, which were formed to represent industry, hammer out the details of the species standards, and make recommendations to the LCSB. OEFFA was invited to submit recommendations for farmers to serve on the subcommittees; all were accepted.

Soon after, Governor Strickland brokered an agreement between HSUS and Ohio’s agricultural commodity groups, including the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation, in which the industry agreed to a number of concessions, including urging the LCSB to adopt regulations phasing out the use of gestation crates and battery cages, in exchange for HSUS dropping their ballot measure.

The board, the Technical Research Advisory Committee (TRAC), and species subcommittees met regularly for the next year developing animal care standards. Here's an update on where things now stand:

• Euthanasia Standards and Civil Penalties: Rules for euthanizing and slaughtering livestock and civil penalties for violators of the LCSB's animal care standards went into effect on January 20, 2011. Following approval by the LCSB and an open public hearing, the standards were reviewed by the Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review (JCARR). The euthanasia standards regulate all on-farm and in-transport euthanasia and slaughter of livestock in the state, outside of inspected slaughter facilities. The civil penalties apply to all standards developed by the board, and range from $500 for minor offenses to $10,000 for repeated offenses.
• General Considerations Standards and Standards for Disabled and Distressed Livestock: The LCSB finalized standards for the treatment of injured or lame animals, along with general cross-cutting standards and definitions which apply to all standards, all of which went into effect on April 28, 2011. OEFFA raised concerns about language which would have required all livestock owners, including small-scale and backyard producers, to prepare Standard Operating Procedures, emergency action plans, attend trainings, and offer training programs to employees on a variety of topics. As a result of these objections, this language was removed.
• Species Standards: The board gave final approval to file standards for veal calves, poultry, swine, beef, dairy, goat, sheep, equine, alpaca and llama with JCARR to begin the rule-making process on April 19, 2011. Weather to restrict or phase out controversial confinment practices, including gestation crates, battery cages, veal tethering, and individual veal stalls, involved extensive consideration and debate. No issue was more contentious than veal housing. For example, after the LCSB received 4,700 public comments, most in favor of allowing veal calves to turn around, the LCSB reversed a March 2 decision and voted to reinsert language in the standards on April 5 which requires veal housing to enable veal calves to turn around in their stalls. OEFFA submitted lengthy public comments regarding the species standards throughout the process, particularly with regards to the layer standards and the issues of housing and space requirements. OEFFA and our farm members worked successfully to remove language from the standards which would have required fencing and overhead protection for all free-range and pastured poultry. On August 11, ODA Director Zehringer announced that the species standards will become effective on September 29, 2011.

To help educate producers about the standards, the ODA scheduled a series of information sessions during August and September 2011. Additionally, the ODA has developed printable guidebooks and quick reference factsheets designed to help producers understand the new series.

Now that the board has completed its intial rule-making process, the board is required to meet and review the standards several times each year. 

1. Donate — OEFFA is working to make sure that livestock care standards protect diversified livestock producers and backyard farmers and that farmers know how these standards will impact them. OEFFA is also working to make sure consumers understand what the new standards mean for them (read OEFFA's September 2011 Columbus Dispatch Letter to the Editor). Make a donation now to help OEFFA continue to be an effective voice for Ohio’s organic and sustainable livestock producers, and consumers wanting safe, humanely-raised egg, meat, and dairy products.



 



2. Read the LCSB Standards and Take Action— To read the euthansia, general considerations, and disabled and distressed livestock standards, or the civil penalties, click here. To read the species standards, click here. If you have any comments or concerns about how the standards will impact you, contact the LCSB.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has deregulated genetically engineered (GE) corn, soybean, cotton, sugar beets, and alfalfa, opening the door for tens of thousands of acres to be planted with these crops. Once released into the environment, GE seed can contaminate non-GE and organic seed. Despite this, Monsanto zealously enforces its patents, investigating and suing farmers for patent infringement when their crop is contaminated. OEFFA is working to ensure legal protection for farmers if their fields become contaminated by Monsanto’s GE seed, and protect consumer choice to safe, healthy food.

While ensuring a clean, safe food supply for consumers is paramount, new food safety regulations could have the effect of squeezing out small farms by creating new layers of bureaucracy for Ohio’s small farmers. With so much on the line, OEFFA is working to demand policies that work in the interest of the small- and mid-sized family farmers who produce some of the country’s safest, freshest, and healthiest food.

In 2008, the Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) placed a gag order on the free speech of dairies and processors by issuing a rule to prohibit labeling dairy products as “artificial hormone free.” Since then, OEFFA worked to overturn this controversial and restrictive dairy labeling rule and in 2011 won a major victory for consumer choice and transparency when the ODA agreed to withdraw the rule.

The toxic algae problems at Lake Erie, Grand Lake St. Mary’s, and a number of the state’s other lakes are caused by manure and phosphorus fertilizers washing off conventional farm fields and into our waterways. OEFFA is working to transition more farmers to sustainable and organic production methods so that we can protect Ohio’s lakes for future generations.