The Adobe Flash Player is required to view this multimedia interactive. Get it here.

Controversial proposal is battle over who regulates agriculture industry

Tim Weaver, president of Weaver Bros. Inc., shows his support for Issue 2 inside the egg-processing area at the Heartland Quality Egg Farm in Logan County. The ballot issue would create a state Livestock Care Standards Board to make decisions on animal welfare issues. Ralph Rindler, who runs a large Mercer County egg farm, also backs Issue 2. Staff photos by Jim Witmer

Jim Witmer Tim Weaver, president of Weaver Bros. Inc., shows his support for Issue 2 inside the egg-processing area at the Heartland Quality Egg Farm in Logan County. The ballot issue would create a state Livestock Care Standards Board to make decisions on animal welfare issues. Ralph Rindler, who runs a large Mercer County egg farm, also backs Issue 2. Staff photos by Jim Witmer

ENLARGE PHOTO

$Chickens feed at Weaver Bros. Inc.'s Heartland Quality Egg Farm, which houses 1.6 million chickens. Weaver Bros. recently spent $12.5 million to build new hen houses, giving each chicken 67 square inches of space.\uFEFF$

Jim Witmer Chickens feed at Weaver Bros. Inc.'s Heartland Quality Egg Farm, which houses 1.6 million chickens. Weaver Bros. recently spent $12.5 million to build new hen houses, giving each chicken 67 square inches of space.\uFEFF

ENLARGE PHOTO

Prosecutors file response in Widmer case
1:03 p.m.
Burglaries reported in Oxford
2/10/12
Local reaction mixed on Obama’s switch on birth control provision
2/10/12
Police patrolling for overweight trucks
2/10/12
Pentagon to allow women to serve near front lines
2/10/12
> More headlines

By Ben Sutherly, Staff Writer 1:39 AM Sunday, October 25, 2009

In August, Ralph Rindler and his family applied for state permits to house 2.5 million hens at their Mercer County egg farm, up from the current 1.3 million.

That would make Rindler Poultry LLC the second largest egg farm in the nation’s second largest egg-producing state.

But the proposed expansion comes at a risky time.

The Humane Society of the United States recently turned its attention to Ohio after spearheading successful ballot initiatives that will phase out or modify some controversial housing practices for livestock and poultry in other states, including confinement of hens in cages.

That’s how hens are housed at Rindler Poultry and virtually all of Ohio’s other commercial egg farms, including those of Weaver Bros. Inc. in Darke and Logan counties.

Rindler is supporting what many farmers consider to be a more palatable alternative: Issue 2, a proposed constitutional amendment that would create a Livestock Care Standards Board.

It would prescribe standards for animal care.

Passing Issue 2 “gives us the security that the people of Ohio support agriculture so we can continue what our family loves to do, and that is to farm,” Rindler says, noting his egg operation employs 50 and indirectly provides work for hundreds more.

Opponents of Issue 2 argue otherwise.

They say lobbyists backed by large-scale livestock and poultry interests have gone “nuclear” in convincing legislators to ask voters Nov. 3 to amend the state constitution.

“Issue 2 will do nothing to stop (the Humane Society of the United States) from passing its own constitutional amendment,” predicted Sarah Alexander, spokeswoman for Ohio Against Constitutional Takeover.

While the Ohio Constitution authorizes a state board of education, boards typically aren’t prescribed in that document, said Charles Hallinan, a University of Dayton law professor and constitutional scholar.

“It’s an oddity,” Hallinan said of Issue 2. “It is unusual enough that it would give me pause to include it in the constitution.”

Share this article