From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2011:
Having formed the U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance in
November 2010 to try to counter bad publicity, agribusiness fronts
including the National Corn Growers Association and National Pork
Producers Council are still trying to figure out what to do and how
to do it, reported Michael J. Crumb of Associated Press on January
31, 2011.
“The groups have been alarmed by such things as the release
of videos that show male chicks being put into grinders, egg-laying
hens in battery cages, and the mistreatment of hogs in large
confinement operations,” Crumb wrote. “The alliance has yet to
develop an action plan, but leaders said it will likely use social
media such as Twitter and a public relations campaign.”
Responded Humane Society of the U.S. factory farming campaign
manager Paul Shapiro, “It doesn’t matter what media they use.
Defending practices most Americans consider indefensible is not a
smart strategy.”