Article written by Nancy Roesner with excerpts from a letter by Gale Betterly

The Ohio Livestock Consortium (OLC) members made the decision to work towards a voter approved constitutional amendment to get ahead of the HSUS efforts. To this point, in the states where HSUS (Humane Society of United States) took the lead, they won.  There are just too many people who don't understand livestock agriculture.  When shown the ugly pictures HSUS uses, they vote to protect animals, not recognizing what is behind the effort.

OLC's membership includes Ohio Farm Bureau, Ohio Corn Growers, Ohio Professional Dairy Farmers, Ohio Cattleman's Association, Ohio Sheep Growers, Ohio Soybean Association and other Ohio farm organizations.  Without a strong livestock industry, we don't have a local market for corn and beans.  We don't have a market for hay and by products.  This is a much bigger question than about Ohio Farm Bureau, it's a question of Ohio's largest industry and of feeding Ohioans, the nation's and the World's people.

Ohio Farm Bureau's first step is to win the vote, hopefully by a large margin.  Once the voters have passed the amendment, agriculture can truthfully say that a commission will work on assuring a safe, available local food supply with that includes sound livestock care standards.  We know that HSUS won't give up, but with this amendment, we will have won the first battle.

There will be the ugly pictures, there will be bad publicity, but, we have to know that this is just a tactic by HSUS, PETA, Sierra Club, and the Ohio Farmers Union to make the public think that the animals we care for are being abused.  This may be the case in a handful of cases, but most farmers raising livestock take better care of their animals than some people care for their children.

As Gale Betterly, the Northeast Region Women's Trustee, and Ohio Farm Bureaus Board of Directors puts it, " I graduated from Revere High School, an Ohio School of Excellence.  Revere has an alumni full of doctors, lawyers, engineers, teachers and community leaders, but there is only one Revere alum whose name most people recognize--Jeffery Dahmer.

Issue 2 is a huge battle, one which we must win for Ohio consumers.  Although agriculture is fighting the battle, the winners are our consumers.  I ask all of you to please spread the word and educate anyone you have contact with about Issue 2.

A YES VOTE ON ISSUE 2 IS A YES VOTE FOR OHIO'S FOOD FUTURE!