Oprah talks about caged birds and sows

Janet Kanters, communications manager with the Beef Information Centre and past president of the Canadian Farm Writers' Federation, sent out a notice to watch Oprah's Tuesday show. So I did. The topic was California's "proposition 2," which  will enforce new rules to give poultry, sows and veal calves more room in their cages and more time in group housing or free-range enclosures. This proposition will be on the federal election ballot in California in November.

Oprah had a number of guests, including many farmers, speaking on both sides of the issue. Lisa Ling, an Oprah "reporter," shared video of her visits to chicken and hog farms, some with your typical containment, some that have gone free range. There was nothing new there. Here are highlights from the discussion in Oprah's studio:

1. Matt Kellogg, a hog farmer from Illinois, was a guest at the show. He says if he had to produce under the rules of proposition 2, he would go out of business. The first reason is economic. It would be too expensive to convert his barns away from gestation cages. The second reason has to do with his views on animal welfare. Sows in crates are individually fed and watered and they are not threatened by alpha females that can make life miserable for other sows — and for employees. "I wouldn't want to farm that way because I don't think it's right for the animals."

2. Jude Becker lets his sows roam free on 32 acres. He has mobile birthing pens to keep piglets safe from other sows. "Consumers want this product and will pay the farmer to produce it this way," he says. He also says it makes him feel good to raise pigs this way.

3. Ryan Armstrong produces eggs in the common way, with hens six to a cage and indoors all the time. He also says proposition 2 will put him out of business. He adds that if California voters support the proposition, there will be "no safe, affordable eggs in California." The eggs will come in from other states and perhaps Mexico where they can be produced more cheaply. And he says "consumers are already spending more on eggs than ever before because of the rising cost of feed."

4. When given a choice between eggs from free-range and caged hens, only five per cent of consumers choose the higher priced free-range eggs. Oprah said that perhaps after her show, that number will rise. That might seem awfully presumptuous of Oprah, but millions of grocery shoppers watch her show. The show did lead off by encouraging consumers to be more particular about where their meat and eggs come from. In time, that may be enough to change practices — even without a law such as proposition 2.