A proposal to ban slaughterhouse operations within Denver city limits was killed by voters Tuesday by nearly a 3-to-1 margin, prompting a wave of relief among Wyoming sheep ranchers.
Opponents of the proposed ban, known as Initiated Ordinance 309, said the ordinance was targeted at one business, Superior Farms, a lamb processer in Denver that claims it processes between 15% and 20% of the lamb brought to market in the United States.
“We're very pleased the ordinance was defeated. It's a critical facility for the lamb industry, including sheep producers in Wyoming,” said Wyoming Stock Growers Association Executive Vice President Jim Magagna. “If it had succeeded in Denver, there's no doubt in our minds that would simply have led to further initiatives is the same type, be they in Colorado or in California or other places where the proponents of that would feel that they could have another success.”
Ordinance 309 didn’t just lose, it lost big with 140,457 “no” votes (65%) to 77,102 in favor of the ban (35%), according to results posted by the city of Denver.
Superior Farms also produces Halal-certified meat, which is based on humane treatment throughout the entire lifecycle of the animal in accordance with Muslim religious traditions.
The Halal food market has been experiencing significant growth over the last few years driven not just by religious needs but “rising interest in ethical, organic, and health-conscious food choices,” according to the Halal Food Council USA.
A recent Colorado State University study had found that the proposed slaughterhouse ban could cost the economy up to $861 million and threaten more than 2,700 jobs in the Rocky Mountain Region.
“We are very relieved it was defeated, and not just by a few votes, but defeated soundly,” Wyoming Rancher and President of the American Sheep Industry Association Brad Boner said. “At least for the moment, the issues gone away.”
“The cost of the ban would have been passed on to consumers,” Superior Farms said in a statement prior to the election.
“The additional cost of shipping more of Denver’s food supply from further away would have increased carbon emissions and made our food supply chain less sustainable.”
Some livestock owners saw the proposal as an attempt to end ranching on public lands.
“You have to listen to the science, especially with natural resources,” Dennis Sun of Wyoming Livestock Roundup told Cowboy State Daily. “This ban on the slaughterhouse was brought on by people that want rid of all the livestock on public lands.”
Impact On Wyoming
Nearly 51% of the lambs from Wyoming are processed at Superior Farms in Denver, and sheep producers would have been forced to go elsewhere for their processing needs.
“It was a big positive for Wyoming Sheep Producers that it got defeated,” Boner said. “About 20% of the lambs in the country were processed there. You can imagine what (problems) might develop losing 20% of the market in any industry or any business agencies.”
The Wyoming Sheep Producers were joined in their fight by the Wyoming Stock Growers Association, the Wyoming Cattlemen’s Association as well as several labor organizations such as the Teamsters union, Denver Area Labor Federation (DALF), and the Working Families Party.
“By defeating the ordinance, it will certainly enable the industry in Wyoming to continue to function knowing it has a relatively geographically close market for those lambs,” Magagna said. “I think it will certainly help keep the business going in Wyoming, and even provide future opportunity for some growth in the sheep industry in Wyoming. I could see where the added cost and difficulty of getting Wyoming lambs to market could have motivated some people to simply get out of the sheep business”
Proponents of the sheep industry said that this defeat of the slaughterhouse ban will keep Wyoming competitive on the world market.
“This was a really nice victory for the sheep people, because there's so many lamb imports coming in with cheap lamb from New Zealand, Australia and around the country,” Sun said.
Future Of Ag Business
The agriculture industry had rallied around the American Sheep Industry Association as members saw this as not only an attack on the slaughterhouse processing lamb, but on the entire industry that produces meat for consumers. In order to succeed in the marketplace, agriculture leaders say they must remain vigilant against future attacks on their livelihood.
“It’s a win for the entire industry and something to be proud of at the same time,” Magagna said. However, he warned, “We can't relax, because I believe groups who initiated that will look for further opportunities.”
“We always have threats on this industry,” Boner said. “We just continued to battle and strive to make this industry working and provide high quality products.”
Ordinance 308, the “Fur Ban” proposal in Denver, was also defeated by voters by a significant margin 58% against and 42% for it. This would have would have outlawed most sales of fur in Denver.
Jackie Dorothy can be reached at jackie@cowboystatedaily.com.
