Pharmaceutical executive rails against activist 'micro-minority'

By CAROL RYAN DUMAS

Capital Press

An official from an animal health company told Idaho dairymen that they need to influence public opinion to ensure they have access to better technology to feed a growing world population.

"There are far too many kids who are hungry, people who are hungry, and it's only going to get greater," said Bob Aukerman, president of U.S. operations for Elanco Animal Health.

Elanco, a division of pharmaceutical firm Eli Lilly and Co., develops and markets products for animal health, food production and pets.

Aukerman said new farmland will only meet 10 percent of future food needs and denser cropping will only add another 20 percent, which means 70 percent of additional production must come from new and existing technology.

Rising economies in many countries will also demand more food and higher quality food, Aukerman said.

"The opportunity is there; we just need to be ready for it. We need to keep tools in the toolbox to produce milk more efficiently," he said.

Aukerman said vocal, anti-agriculture and anti-technology advocacy groups are driving food policy discussions for such things as animal production and biotechnology.

"That small segment should not be dictating policy to take tools out of your hands," he said. "We need to redirect the micro-minority so we don't allow non-valid positions to become food policy."

Too often, agriculture tries to win the argument on science, he said, when advocacy groups are promoting the horrors of animal production and harm to clean air and water.

"We have to appeal to the heart and emotion. These other things are pulling on their heart strings," he said. "But what's ethical about having people starve?"

Producers have to be involved, whether it's in their local communities or in the halls of Congress.

"You have a role to play in telling the story. Don't assume people know (what you do) or how important it is. We've got to start speaking up," he said.