"New egg lobby heats debate over henhouse legislation" by Dan Eggen | Washington Post, June 21, 2012
Is that really his last name?
WASHINGTON — Last summer, the United Egg Producers and the Humane Society of the United States agreed on legislation that would set national standards for the treatment of laying hens, setting aside years of enmity over the issue.
But the development did not sit well with Amon Baer, an egg farmer and pork producer in Minnesota who says he decided to set up his own Washington lobbying group in response.
The group, dubbed Egg Farmers of America, has joined with much larger agribusiness organizations in mounting strong opposition to the proposed egg legislation, which is part of the broader debate over a farm bill now convulsing Congress.
Who has eggs for dinner?
The debate has pitted the egg
industry’s largest lobbying group against other agricultural interests,
as well as producing a split within the egg industry itself.
I'm surprised they didn't say there was a crack in the industry (grown).
Silly me, I have this idyllic notion of chickens running around a farm and living in a coop.
This bill is about how much room the factory farms are going to allow hens to live in for the rest of their lives.
How would you like living in a cage for the rest of your life, readers? Why would the chicken feel any different?
Although the proposal appears stalled in the Senate, backers are hoping for approval in the House.
Went through from what I read at dinner.
The Humane Society views the deal as an important move forward in the treatment of poultry, while the egg producers group favors the legislation in part because it would do away with a confusing patchwork of state-by-state standards.
That last part is why it passes.
But Baer said his organization has dozens of members, primarily in the upper Midwest, who would be financially devastated by new requirements in the legislation. Large agribusiness groups such as the Farm Bureau and the National Pork Producers Council also oppose the bill because they fear it could set a precedent for tougher federal regulation of their industries....
Animal-welfare advocates, meanwhile, accuse Baer’s Egg Farmers of America of acting as a Trojan horse for the pork industry and other agribusiness interests firmly opposed to tougher federal regulations.
You know, maybe if they built this large wooden badger....
Paul Shapiro, vice president for farm animal protection at the Humane Society, said the new egg group has helped provide cover for the meat industry and other lobbying groups with little direct interest in the egg business.
‘‘They had to fabricate this organization in order to make it appear that there is egg industry opposition, when in reality the majority of egg producers support this legislation,’’ Shapiro said. ‘‘Because the bill doesn’t affect cattle or pigs, they’ve had a hard time finding sympathy for their arguments.’’
Most liars do.
The lobbying firm hired by the Egg Farmers of America, the Russell Group of Arlington, also represents the National Pork Producers Council, the International Dairy Foods Association, Hormel, and many other large agribusiness interests, according to lobbying records....
--more--"
Related: Lawyers: Criminal probe targets egg magnate, aides
Also see: The Boston Sunday Globe Can't Smell Rotten Eggs
Must be the smell of s*** overwhelming it.
Coasting Through Breakfast in Maine
I wouldn't order the omelet or have soup for lunch.
