FREDERICKTOWN — The progress being made by the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board was the hot topic at the Knox County Farm Bureau Federation’s Annual Dinner on Monday night at the Fredericktown United Methodist Church.
Dr. Tony Forshey, veterinarian for the state of Ohio State, spoke to the gathering about the care standards board and what it is doing. The board requires the state veterinarian to be named as a member of the board. Forshey was also appointed vice chairman by ODA Director Robert Boggs who is also chairman of the board.
“Things are going along very well,” Forshey said. “The board is meeting every two weeks. And in the meantime, between the meetings, the Technical Research Advisory Committee, which I co-chair, is meeting on the off weeks with the seven species subcommittees as we are developing care standards for those. The TRAC represents the academic side of things, the scientific research side of things while the species subcommittees are represented by the industry — the farmers and commodity groups that deal with those particular species.”
Forshey said the two groups are working together to combine the latest state of the technical side of agriculture with the industry side and what they see every day and what goals they would like to achieve. The two groups will then come up with standards that will be presented to the whole board for adoption. The idea is to come up with realistic goals for standard and humane care of livestock, combined with state-of-the-art agricultural techniques.
Forshey also said the compromise made several months ago between Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland and the Humane Society of the United States was being considered by the board. The specifics of the compromise are not binding on the board but are being considered just as any input from the public or the agricultural industry.
