Iowa Farm Bureau President Craig Lang blasted animal rights advocates in his opening remarks this morning before the organization’s county delegates. The Farm Bureau’s Summer Policy Conference is taking place this week in West Des Moines. Lang claims groups like the U.S. Humane Society tout an agenda to the public that they are simply trying to protect animals.
“But the truth of it is, they have another agenda,” Lang says, “and sometimes that agenda is hidden. It might vegetarianism or total elimination of livestock and agriculture, that’s what scares us the most.” Lang says the animal rights and environmental groups often target their message to state and federal legislators who have no background in farming. He says Farm Bureau members can fight back by showing how modern agriculture cares for animals and protects the environment.
“We utilize new technology, from research facilities at public institutions, which capture those things that threaten the water and soil,” Lang says. “We balance the nutrients from the livestock industry today, in a way that is positive for the return of more crops, that create renewable energy and higher quality food products for people around the world. That’s the facts of modern agriculture.”
The Policy Conference opened today and wraps up Thursday, as the Iowa Farm Bureau prepares it’s “wish list” for local, state, and federal legislation.