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NEFU-HSUS alliance back in spotlight
A controversial agreement between the Nebraska Farmers Union (NEFU) and the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) was back in the spotlight Saturday at the NEFU annual meeting in Grand Island.
In mid-October NEFU announced it was partnering with HSUS to form a “livestock advisory council”, with one of its objectives being to develop markets for “humanely raised” livestock. In exchange, HSUS pledged not to pursue a farm animal welfare ballot initiative in Nebraska.
The announcement touched off a firestorm within the state’s ag community. Politicians and leaders of other Nebraska ag organizations criticized NEFU for “inviting” HSUS into the state.
But in an interview with Brownfield on Saturday, NEFU president John Hansen said he does not regret making the agreement.
“The question on the table was not whether we’re going to invite them in or not—the reality of the situation was, they were already here,” Hansen says. “Then how do we as an organization that represents the interests of livestock producers and agriculture deal with those folks and their concerns?”
Hansen says he was surprised by the criticism of the agreement from other farm groups.
“They (other groups) said that their goal was to gear up and do public education and all of these things to avoid a statewide ballot issue. We were able to accomplish that goal by engaging with HSUS,” Hansen says. “They (HSUS) have now made a public commitment that they’re not going to do that—and in lieu of that, they’re going to work with us to develop premium-added, value-added markets for our producers.”
HSUS director of rural outreach and development Joe Maxwell—a Missouri pork producer—says he was also surprised by the strong opposition to the agreement.
“It kind of surprised us how volatile it was here, especially with Farm Bureau and other organizations coming out so heavily against opening markets for family farms,” Maxwell says.
“This is not about setting standards for Nebraska or its agriculture. It’s not about changing any rules or regulations. As a matter of fact, it’s about agreeing—trying to go forward without having a ballot initiative, or a threat of a ballot initiative, from the Humane Society of the United States and its members here.”
Although some Farmers Union members have openly questioned whether HSUS can be trusted, no action was taken to change the agreement at Saturday’s meeting.
Meanwhile, leaders of the Nebraska farm coalition called We Support Agriculture say they will continue their fundraising and educational efforts.
The mission of the coalition—which was formed by Nebraska Farm Bureau and most of the state’s commodity organizations—is to defend Nebraska agriculture against attacks from HSUS and other animal rights organizations.
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