Some hog farms and Hutterite colonies in Manitoba will lose hundreds of thousands of dollars when a province-wide coal-burning ban is imposed in 2014.


But Manitoba’s new agriculture minister, Ron Kostyshyn, showed no signs of backing away from the controversial move when he appeared at the Keystone Agricultural Producers convention Jan. 25.


“We’re not picking on farmers,” Kostyshyn told reporters after his speech to KAP members.


“It’s a slow process of trying to educate the component of the emissions of the coal.… We have a year or two before the coal becomes officially banned.”


But to James Hofer, who represents Hutterite colonies on the Manitoba Pork Council, the situation doesn’t seem slow or a matter of education. Many Hutterite heating systems cost $500,000 and provide heat for hog barns, shops and homes.


“Some producers are going to have to totally abandon their coal boilers and switch to natural gas,” said Hofer.


“Coming up with these regulations, I don’t think they understood how many farms were burning coal, how big the impact was going to be.”


The provincial government is moving against coal as part of its strategy to penalize or prevent the use of the most extreme carbon-emitting fuels. It has converted two Manitoba Hydro plants that formerly used coal.


Coal became a popular energy source for many farmers when energy prices surged in the mid-2000s. With the coal fields of Estevan, Sask., only a few hours away from Manitoba’s hog belt, it became attractive to install coal-burning boilers and haul in cheap coal rather than pay for expensive natural gas or other forms of energy. 


Installing coal-burning boilers seemed a natural choice, especially for Hutterite colonies, which often have large bulk trucks, and can work together to bring in group loads. The coal ban follows the recent imposition of a tax on coal, which farmers using coal can manage. But an outright ban will cause an expensive destruction of a lot of investment, Hofer said.


“It’s going to be tough to find the money to do it.”


The provincial government is offering funding that would partially offset the cost of retrofitting coal boilers to burn biomass such as flax straw, but many critics and farm leaders say few people or companies have been able to make waste-burning work well enough to be reliable. 


Hofer said he was disappointed to see the provincial government impose a ban rather than talk to farmers and come up with more moderate solutions.


“No consultation. Just going out and doing things,” said Hofer. “You wonder if they know what drives the provincial economy and where the opportunities are.”