Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland has signed House Bill 414 into effect, creating the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board and providing the terms of office for board members. The board will be responsible for developing animal care and well-being standards through regulation of Ohio’s farms.

Gov. Strickland along with the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House will name appointees to the 13-member board. The board will be comprised of the director of the Ohio Department of Agriculture, a food safety expert, three family farmers, two members who represent statewide farm organizations, a licensed Ohio veterinarian, the state veterinarian, a dean of agriculture from an Ohio college or university, two Ohio consumers and a county humane society representative. Board appointees are expected to be selected by mid-April.

“We greatly appreciate the efforts on behalf of both the Ohio House of Representatives and Ohio Senate, in addition to Gov. Strickland, to enact this legislation,” says Dick Isler, executive vice president of the Ohio Pork Producers Council. “Our hog farmers appreciate the opportunity to have livestock regulations for Ohioans stay in our state.”

Once the appointees are named, the board will focus on establishing regulations that assure Ohio families continue to enjoy safe, nutritious, affordable, locally grown food that farmers provide each day.

Ohio’s agricultural community believes the best animal care regulations will be developed when all interested parties come together to develop an effective and practical framework for consumers and farmers.

Learn more about the livestock care standards board at http://safelocalohiofood.org.