Diemand Farm in Wendell: Ring any bells?
They are the farm who will be most affected by Question 3. Have you eaten their eggs, enjoyed their chickens and turkeys? Well, if Question 3 passes on a yes vote, they will have to reduce many of the products that they distribute locally. Don’t let this happen! We need to keep our local farms! Q3 is a minimum size requirement for farm animal containment that suggests a “yes vote” is better welfare while a “no vote” is more animal cruelty. This is false. The initiative began by requiring “certain farm animals (including egg-producing chickens) are able to stand up, lie down, turn around and extend their limbs.” Sounds reasonable, but chickens producing eggs today already have this ability. The National Association of Egg Farmers wants the people in Massachusetts to know that it has been more than five decades since the modern system of producing eggs ensures that chickens have better health, produce more grade-A eggs, and prevent contamination of the eggs with dirt and manure on the ground. Chickens establish a pecking order among their flock, so reducing the number of birds in an enclosure such as the modern cages reduces the stress from pecking and thus improving their welfare. Just ask the owners of the Diemand Farm’s 80-year-old egg-producing operation in Wendell who really want their hens to keep producing safe and wholesome eggs at reasonable prices.
VOTE “NO” ON QUESTION 3.
(A portion of verbiage used in this letter to editor was approved by the National Association of Egg Farmers.)
Barbara A. Carson
Greenfield