At the last minute, animal ag in Ohio and the Humane Society of
the U.S. (HSUS) came to an agreement that avoided a statewide
ballot initiative this fall.  First, a little background: HSUS
had the 500,000 signatures required to put its initiative on the
ballot, and expectations were that each side would spend $15
million or more waging war, with political analysts claiming the
outcome a tossup.  So, the two sides came to an agreement that
phased out sow crates and certain other practices, and let the
power for deciding animal welfare issues remain with the state’s
board. The concessions on hog and poultry production weren’t
inconsequential but the phase-in and state board control was
important for ag. Pragmatically, it’s easy to see why the
compromise was better than spending $15 million on an unsure
outcome.  The real discomfort for both sides is that the
compromise leaves a lot of unanswered questions about exactly
what it means. Animal rights activists really didn’t get much
more in concessions than the in