Environmentalists called it a no-brainer but hog farmers were left stunned by the Doer government's decision to ban new hog farms in a wide swath of central Manitoba.
The NDP released the results of a year-long environmental review of Manitoba's $1-billion hog industry Monday. Coupled with that, the government announced an indefinite ban on new or expanded barns in the Interlake, the Red River valley and the pig-producing powerhouse around Steinbach. The temporary ban on hog farms in the rest of the province, in place since the review began in Nov. 2006, was lifted.
"When we introduced the pause, we did so to determine whether the growth in the industry was environmentally sustainable," said Struthers. "Clearly, in some parts of the province, the answer is no."
Struthers said the ban covers parts of the province that already have too many hog barns too close together or where the land is prone to widespread flooding, which could wash manure into the watershed. The ban also covers areas with sensitive ecologies like wetlands.
The ban came as a blow to an industry already crippled by sky-high feed costs, the strong loonie and looming disruptions in the American market.
"It's a negative day for this industry," said Baldur hog producer Karl Kynoch, chairman of the Manitoba Pork Council, who estimated two-thirds of the province's pig production takes place in the affected area. "This is just way beyond what we expected."
Kynoch revealed Monday the industry had been holding discussions with a company looking to build a hog-packing plant just outside Winnipeg, but news of the moratorium will kill those plans.
"With the negative business climate, a packing plant is not going to build in an area where they know that the hog industry isn't going to be sustained," Kynoch said.
But environmental activists said it's about time the province took bold action on an industry that has mushroomed into one of the province's biggest polluters.
"The halt in the three already oversaturated areas is a no-brainer," said University of Winnipeg biology professor Eva Pip, one of the province's most outspoken water advocates. "It should have been done years ago, before we developed the problems that we see in these areas now. How are we going to repair the environmental damage that has already occurred?"
Pip said she's worried the partial ban could push more hog farms into Western Manitoba, though many rural municipalities there have toughened their rules.
The Clean Environment Commission -- the arms-length panel of experts that conducted the sweeping review --- came up with 48 recommendations to make hog farms greener. The CEC called for a series of pollution regulations to be in place by 2013 instead of 2020. And the panel demanded more inspection staff, tougher construction rules governing manure lagoons and more soil testing.
Struthers said the province will convene an internal task force to determine how best to implement all the recommendations. That includes giving producers some financial help to meet new environmental rules, something that could cost the government millions.
But the CEC stopped short of recommending an outright ban on new or expanded barns in central Manitoba, which prompted Tory Leader Hugh McFadyen to call the ban a "symbolic political gesture." Market conditions make any new hog barns a no-go anyhow, he said.
Hog industry officials said the moratorium will lower farm values in the affected region and make it difficult to transfer farms to the next generation.
"I think they should have taken the moratorium off completely or left it on because now we're on unequal playing fields," said John Preun, chairman of the Manitoba Pork Marketing Co-op, referring to the different rules for eastern and western Manitoba farmers.
Preun said that given the economic crisis facing the industry -- with farmers losing $50 on each market hog -- there are few short-term implications of the government moratorium. "But down the road, yes, it's going to hinder us."
maryagnes.welch@freepress.mb.ca
Pig Primer
8.8 million: Number of hogs Manitoba produced in 2006.
1,280: Number of hog farms in Manitoba last year.
23: Per cent decline since 2002.
3.8 million: Tonnes of manure produced a year by Manitoba hogs.
3: Number of odour complaints in 2006.
Hog Tied
The Clean Environment Commissioned wants:
* new manure management regulations covering phosphorus to be sped up. They should come into force in five years, not 12.
* the province to make sure it's got enough staff so barns and lagoons can be inspected annually and all regulations can be enforced.
* a lot more research and testing to determine how much manure ought to go where, how much fresh water hog barns use and what new technology can be used to make barns greener.
* manure storage structures inspected every three years by an engineer to make sure they don't leak. Dikes ought to be built around them just in case.
* all new manure storage tanks to have synthetic covers to cut down on stink.
* more health and safety inspectors able to ensure hog barns are safe places to work.
* an overhaul the approval process used to permit new hog barns.
COOL is definitely
uncool
The CEC warned the province about a looming crisis -- the country-of-origin labelling (COOL) legislation that's about to be passed in the United States.
It could all but shut Manitoba producers out of the American market, which would leave local barns with millions of hogs and nowhere to send them.
Producers could be forced to kill 8,000 to 10,000 hogs a day -- an environmental and animal welfare disaster.
The CEC said the province needs to come up with a contingency plan, and Conservation Minister Stan Struthers said Monday that one is in the works.
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