Livestock care standards to go into effect Sept. 29

Ohio Agriculture Director James Zehringer today announced that animal care rules developed by the Livestock Care Standards Board will become effective on Sept. 29, 2011. The establishment of comprehensive livestock care standards is required by OhioÕs constitution following the passage of State Issue 2 in 2009. The statewide ballot initiative specified creation of the 13-member Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board with the responsibility of obtaining industry and public input in developing livestock rules for alpacas, beef, dairy, goats, horses, llamas, pork, poultry, sheep and veal. ÒThe members of the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board and representatives from OhioÕs agricultural community devoted the past 18 months to developing and vetting the most comprehensive livestock care standards in the nation,Ó Zehringer said. ÒStates from around the country are now looking towards OhioÕs leadership in developing these new standards.Ó OhioÕs livestock care rules, which become effective with the Director of AgricultureÕs signature, will be signed on Sept. 29, 2011, at a special ceremony in Fort Recovery. That date concludes an extensive outreach effort by the department and OhioÕs farm organizations to inform Ohioans raising or caring for livestock about the new rules. ÒWe have already started the process of educating Ohio farmers about these new rules and it is our goal to spend the next several weeks in continuing to provide the stateÕs agricultural community information about them before they go into effect,Ó said Zehringer. As part of its education effort the department has developed printable guides to help producers understand the new standards. A series of information sessions hosted by Dr. David Glauer, former state veterinarian, has also been scheduled around the state. The meetings are open to the public and will feature a presentation on the new livestock care standards as well as an opportunity to ask ODA staff questions about the new rules. The dates and locations of those two-hour meetings (all of which are from 6 to 8 p.m.) include:

• Wednesday, Aug. 24: Hillsboro Southern State Community College (Auditorium), 100 Hobart Drive
• Wednesday, Aug. 31: Wooster Ohio State University OARDC (Shisler Center Ballroom), 1680 Madison Avenue
• Wednesday, Sept. 14: Lima Independence Elementary School, 615 Tremont Avenue
• Tuesday, Sept. 27: Zanesville Ohio University Ð Zanesville Campus (The Campus Center T430 & 431), 1425 Newark Road
• Thursday, Sept. 29: Fort Recovery American Legion, 2490 State Route 49 N.

Information about the livestock care standards, printable guides and the informational sessions can be found on the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board website.