11/25/2009 7:50:00 AM Animal welfare expert says beef producers are doing it right
Dr. Bernard Rollin spoke Nov. 16 in Brookings, S.D. on animal welfare. He is the principal author of the 1985 Animal Welfare Act.
By Lura Roti
"The beef industry is exactly what the public wants out of animal agriculture," says Dr. Bernard Rollin, during a lecture hosted by the Animal and Range Science Department at South Dakota State University Nov. 16.
More than 270 students and area producers turned out to hear the internationally prominent scholar in animal rights and animal welfare speak about how the general public views animal agriculture.
"As producers we can be a little shielded and become defensive about the issues. His presentation opens the door to how typical people - outside of who we normally associate with - look at us," says Kelly Bruns, professor of animal science at SDSU.
Bruns had listened to Rollin speak in the past, and thought he would be a good speaker to start off the monthly beef industry leader lecture series his department introduced this year.
"There are so many changes and things happening in the industry," Bruns says. "Students need the opportunity to interact with industry leaders and experts so they have a better understanding before they graduate."
As the principal author of the 1985 Animal Welfare Act, Rollin says he is a friend of the beef industry because cattle producers practice the same animal husbandry today that they did 200 years ago.
"You're the last group (of livestock producers) that hasn't gone industrial," says Rollin, a distinguished professor of philosophy, biomedical sciences and animal sciences at Colorado State University. "I get along really well with cow/calf people, because like you, I don't like governmental regulation."
Animal husbandry Rollin says is "respecting the animal's natural course." He says that every aspect of the beef industry practices this.
"You haven't changed in 200 years. Maybe you ride fence on a motorcycle instead of a horse, but the structure of the beef industry is still respecting the animals' natural course," Rollin says. "The confinement dimension of the beef industry is cleaner than it used to be and cows are essentially walking around like cows."
He adds that animal husbandry is what sets the beef industry apart from other segments of animal agriculture. He encourages beef producers to embrace this and promote their story of animal husbandry to their consumers.
"This is a good time for you to do it. The public is as exercised as I've ever seen about animal agriculture and you are the only people in animal agriculture for which what you do is the solid way of life," Rollin says. "For years we've needed a way to market beef that doesn't involve cheapness. You're undercut by pork and chicken - I submit to you guys that animal welfare is the demarcation."
Rollin's message was one that Nancy Montross wishes more cattle producers could hear. A commercial cow/calf producer with her husband, Bob, near De Smet, S.D., Montross has been actively involved in the cattle industry since she and Bob married 42 years ago. As the executive secretary of South Dakota Beef Bucks program and a past president of the South Dakota Beef Industry Council, Montross understands the daily challenges beef producers and the industry face.
"I thought he was an awesome presenter. When we got the invite from Kelly, we were both curious to hear what a scholar had to say about animal rights," Montross says. "I thought the idea that beef producers should capitalize on animal husbandry was a good observation on his part. I felt proud to be a cattle producer."
Rollin's two-hour lecture was full of humor and examples of how he's worked as a liaison between cattle producers and animal activist groups like the Humane Society of United States. When he heard rumors that HSUS wanted to introduce Proposition 2 to Colorado (the ballot measure that regulates livestock confinement which passed in California in 2008) he was instrumental in preventing it from getting on the ballot in Colorado.
"What's going on in society today is nothing short of an ethical revolution. We've lived through numerous ethical issues - consumerism, feminism, environmentalism - all these revolutions have an impact on all of us," Rollin says. "The crucial point, if you want to survive in this kind of world, is you must be, or appear to be in accordance with society ethics."
To accomplish this, he encourages beef producers to be their own spokespeople.
"I recommend to the beef industry to take people who are lifelong ranchers and send cowboys to the Ivy League, where the next generation of lawyers is being formed," Rollin says. "So you aren't defined by your enemies - you are defined by yourself. You are credible when you talk about yourself and your way of life."
This point struck a cord with Dan Fehrman, a sophomore animal science major and registered red Angus producer from Lake Benton, Minn.
"If this guy is saying we are doing it right, I think we should promote that - get the message out there about what we actually do and how we do it right," says Fehrman, 19, who plans on returning to his family's farm after college. "It makes sense that we should have real guys out there saying what we do - real ranchers, not a spokesperson."
Rollin did point to some management practices that he feels need to change, listing dehorning, livestock transport and castration without anesthesia.
"If you're not in accordance with social ethics, you lose business and worse you lose your freedom," says Rollin, adding that in 2004 there were 2,100 bills in state legislatures across the country dealing with animal welfare. "If you don't want to be told what to do, then you have to prove that you already know how to do it right."
He ends his lecture by asking the audience how many of them believe animals have rights. Most hands go up. He says this is the response he's come to expect from livestock producers.
"Of the 15,000 ranchers that I've talked to throughout the years, more say that animals have rights than don't. They wouldn't go industrial any more than sell their land," Rollin says.
Montross agrees.
"I've watched Bob care for his animals for 42 years and they get better care than some children," Montross says. "We don't need to put any frills on how we raise our livestock. We've been doing it right generation after generation - we need to advertise it."
The next Beef Lecture will be Nov. 30 in the Animal Science Arena at SDSU. Tom Noffsinger, a private practice veterinarian will speak on low-stress cattle handling from 4 to 7 p.m. to RSVP send Kelly Bruns an e-mail, Kelly.bruns@sdstate.edu.
Copyright 2009 The Cattle Business Weekly. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed unless permission is granted from the editor.
