Pacelle Calls Ag People "Disruptions"

Slamming the door on openness
Dirck Steimel

As a reporter, I only grow more curious when someone shuts a door in my face and tells me to go away. I start to wonder what they are hiding and start looking harder for the truth.

That’s the situation I found myself in recently when the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) held a news conference in Des Moines. The animal rights group showed off a batch of dimly-lit undercover videos that they claim proves there is systematic abuse of hens at Iowa’s modern egg farms.

I’ve covered agriculture and food trends for years and thought I might be able to bring a little of that experience and expertise into the press conference. But it wasn’t possible. Because I work for an agriculture-affiliated organization, I was barred from the press conference. It didn’t matter that I was editor of the Spokesman, the most widely circulated newspaper in Iowa. My ties to agriculture made me unwelcome.

I wasn’t alone. People with a lot more expertise than me were also stuck out in the hallway. That included representatives from the Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and others affiliated with agriculture.

Why were we kept out? HSUS leader Wayne Pacelle told the Des Moines Register that he shut out ag affiliated folks because he didn’t want “disruptions.” Read More

Pacelle has continually said that the HSUS wants to have conversations with agriculture. Well, Wayne can say whatever he wants, but his actions give us more insight into their true feelings. Representatives from ag organizations weren’t allowed at his press conference in Des Moines last week because he didn’t want any “disruptions”. I think that is really how the world’s wealthiest animal rights organization classifies farmers and ranchers, as a disruption of their main goal to eliminate animal agriculture in this country.

Our Busy Schedule

The last few days have been whirlwind of traveling and meeting new people while we shared our story and inspired others to do the same. With adverse weather all over the country, traveling by airplane became quite a challenge. Despite all of that, we did eventually make it to all our destinations and back home.

On Friday morning we had the opportunity to present to a group of swine veterinarians and other animal health experts from Pfizer Animal Health in Miami. Many times we tend to focus on family farmers and ranchers telling their story, but we need to make sure that everyone who is involved in agriculture, from our veterinarians to our equipment dealers, are also helping promote and educate about the industry they rely on.

From there we traveled to Vidalia, Louisiana to spend Saturday morning at the Louisiana Farm Bureau Young Farmers and Ranchers Leadership Conference. More than 100 young agriculturalists were in attendance. The amount of talent and leadership potential at these young farmers and rancher meetings, never ceases to amaze me and Louisiana certainly has a lot of it. It was a great group to work with and we are looking forward to crossing paths with these young leaders in the future.

While we did make it home last night, we have to hit the road again today. Tomorrow we are presenting in San Antonio, TX at the Masters of Beef Advocacy graduation which is being held in conjunction with National Cattlemen's Beef Association. We had the privilege of speaking at the MBA graduation last summer in Denver and it was a blast. It's a lot of fun to meet beef cattle enthusiasts from across the country and see their enthusiasm for agriculture turned into positive education and promotion of the industry.

After taking in the Cattle Industry Convention, we will end up in Des Moines, IA at the end of the week to share our message at the Iowa Farm Bureau Young Farmers and Ranchers Leadership Conference. This meeting is always very well attended and it will be great getting to see some old friends and make new ones.

If you can make it to any of these events, please make a point to come introduce yourself to us. One of the best parts of getting to travel to these different areas of the country and share our story is meeting other people involved in agriculture.

Have a great week!