‘No Sh*t’: Cory Booker Takes Aim At Factory Farms With New Bill

NEWARK, NJ — It’s called the “NO SHT Act” for a reason.

On Monday, U.S. Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey introduced a proposed federal law that he’s branded as the No Stool in Herds’ Troughs (NO SHT) Act. If it crosses the finish line, the bill would ban food companies from giving animals feed that contains “intentionally-added excrement.”

Booker said the proposed law specifically takes aim at the “alarming” practice of feeding poultry litter – which includes dead birds, feathers and feces – to cows at lots and dairies across the nation.

Sound gross? It’s a “surprisingly routine” sight at some of the largest farms in America, the senator said.

“We must put an end to unsanitary factory farming practices that prioritize profits over public health, including the feeding of poultry litter to cattle,” Booker insisted.

“Feeding animal waste to livestock is irresponsible and cruel,” added the senator, a well-known vegan and a member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry.

The use of livestock or poultry manure as crop fertilizer would not be banned under the bill.

Some independent farmers and advocacy groups have been rallying behind Booker’s call for change.

According to Michael Kovach, president of Pennsylvania Farmers Union, the bill would be a big step toward “reprioritizing our food system” toward healthy, nutritious food for Americans — over profitability for the “big four” meat packers who currently dominate the U.S. beef industry: Tyson, JBS, Cargill and National Beef.

The practice of intentionally feeding chicken litter to cattle is “awful in the best of times,” Kovach said.

“Given the current outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza, and its well documented ability to cross species to bovines and humans alike, it is an even more egregious and ill-advised practice,” Kovach said.

“Feeding excrement to cattle has to stop,” agreed Bill Bullard of the Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund United Stockgrowers of America (R-CALF).

“It’s a shame the U.S. has to pass laws to forbid what we already know to be wrong and a potential risk to cattle and humans – but apparently we do,” Bullard said.

In other nations such as Canada and the United Kingdom, the practice has been banned due to worries about disease spreading from chickens to cows – including some that are destined for dinner tables, Booker noted.

A pair of overseas experts backed up the senator’s claims.

“In the U.S., the feeding of poultry litter to beef cows is a known factor in the cause of botulism in cattle, and is a risk in the case of H5N1,” said Steve Van Winden, an associate professor in population medicine at the Royal Veterinary College.

“The flu can be spread by fecal-oral routes, and so it’s not an impossible scenario that chickens who are infected with H5N1 can shed live virus through feces – which the cattle then consume,” agreed Brian Ferguson, an associate professor of immunology at the University of Cambridge.

Other scientists have countered that there is not enough information available to link the two together, and have questioned how many cattle are actually consuming poultry litter.

“A 2008 survey of over 16,000 poultry producers nationwide, completed by the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association and the National Chicken Council, suggested that only 1% of poultry litter was fed to cattle,” the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently told Forbes.

“The FDA is not aware of any information indicating that this level of use has changed,” the agency added.

The FDA has also previously said that it is not aware of any data that shows the use of poultry litter in cattle feed is “posing human or animal health risks that warrant restrictions on its use.”

“Science does not justify the ban,” a spokesperson for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association said when discussions about similar national regulations cropped up in 2009.

The “NO SHT Act” isn’t the first time in recent history that Booker has launched a legislative crusade to reform the nation’s food industry. He’s also campaigned on issues such as biogas production, beef labeling practices and access to healthy foods.

• See Related: Time To Fix A 'Broken' U.S. Farm System, Sen. Cory Booker Says
• See Related: Cory Booker Continues His Beef With The Beef Industry
• See Related: From Poop To Power: U.S. Senator Tells Feds To Rethink 'Biogas' Plans
• See Related: When A Twinkie Is Cheaper Than An Apple: Booker Holds Farm Bill Forum

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