Marcel Hacault thinks it’s time the public heard about the good things hog farmers do for the environment.
The Niverville, Man. pig farmer and member of Manitoba Pork’s environment committee, helped create an environmental stewardship program called Green Pigs, unveiled during Manitoba Pork’s annual meeting in Winnipeg two weeks ago.
Manitoba Pork is the agent for 80 percent of pig sales in the province.
The initiative is aimed at helping hog farmers develop sustainable agriculture practices and teaching the public that farmers are committed to good land stewardship.
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“Hog farmers aren’t going to be around if they pollute the ground water and destroy everything,” Hacault said. “This is the only way the hog industry will be able to continue to grow.”
Viewing manure as a fertilizer rather than a waste product and proper disposal of carcasses are among practices the program hopes to promote.
Pork producers are hoping the $190,000 program will ward off stricter legislation on hog farming practices by showing government that producers are taking action on their own.
“If we don’t continue to keep our house in order there will be chains on us,” Manitoba Pork’s public affairs director Ted Muir told the meeting.
One element of the three-part initiative is the environmental peers program where new producers are partnered with mentors who have demonstrated exceptional stewardship in the hog business.
“It’s a way to head off a situation before it becomes a problem,” Hacault said.
A second part, the stewardship rewards program, recognizes producers and industry groups that have made outstanding environmental contributions to Manitoba’s hog industry.
