House Votes on Livestock-Related Issues Noted

During the farm bill debate last week, the House passed an amendment to the bill prohibiting the sale of "nonambulatory" livestock, proposed by Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-NY) and strongly supported by the Humane Society of the United States. The bill's major opponents were livestock producer and marketing groups, as well as others in animal agriculture.

The practical outcome of this amendment is unclear, says the American Meat Institute, because the Senate has not yet produced its version of a farm bill. However, some senators already have expressed interest in addressing perceived problems with nonambulatory livestock. AMI supports humane handling of nonambulatory livestock, including expedited inspection and stunning.

AMI opposes blanket prohibitions on the sale or inspection of the broad category of "nonambulatory" livestock, recognizing that some nonambulatory livestock are not ill and are safe for human consumption.

An amendment also was approved that mandates country-of-origin labeling for produce. AMI and other groups successfully persuaded House members not to offer a similar amendment for meat.

Earlier this year, AMI worked to defeat country-of-origin labeling for meat when it was proposed during the House Agriculture Committee markup of the farm bill. Senate proponents of such labeling likely will use the Senate's farm bill to propose a similar meat labeling amendment in that chamber.

AMI says sources indicate that Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA) will reverse an earlier decision and now try to complete the Senate version of the farm bill before Congress leaves this year.