There may be only 2,770 people in the 667,000-acre County of Clear Hills in northern Alberta, but those who object to a hog barn proposal for the area say that is not enough space for both people and pigs.
A proposed hog barn development with 17 barns scattered throughout the county has raised the ire of residents living near the proposed barn sites.
Lindsey Wasylciw of Worsley said the negatives outweigh the positives promised by the Northern Swine System’s hog barn loop, which would be operated by Big Sky Farms of Saskatchewan.
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“It will bring huge problems for no gain and that’s not going to do our community any good,” said Wasylciw, whose farm is about two kilometres from a proposed site on a relative’s farm.
Already the $40 million project has divided the mainly farming community between those who believe the project will bring needed economic development and those who think the production of 150,000 hogs a year will produce little more than a bad smell.
Kelly Larsback of Eureka River said county officials have not done enough to make residents aware they were trying to attract development projects, like the hog barn.
“They have shown total disrespect for the very people who have elected them. Through their misrepresentation of the people, they have lost our trust, and their secrecy in this matter makes me believe they are hiding something,” wrote Larsback in a letter to the Western Producer.
“There’s something too sneaky about it for me,” said Larsback, who lives about five km from a proposed barn site.
Clear Hills County councillor Marlene Maxwell said the county is trying to be open. Letters were sent to the eight agricultural societies in the area about the proposed barn, offering to hold information sessions. Only the agricultural society at Bear Canyon, near Maxwell’s farm, took up the offer.
“We knew what was happening,” said Maxwell. “Nobody was trying to hide anything.”
Clear Hills County reeve Mae Allen said much work needs to be done before any barns are built. The county must determine where intensive livestock operations can be located. As well, financing for the project isn’t in place.
“I’m thinking it isn’t going to happen till next year, if it happens,” said Allen.
Grant Mann, president of Peace Country Pork Management, the group managing the project, said he’s not surprised at opposition to the barn project. Few hog barns are approved without opposition.
Mann believes more information sessions for farmers about the benefits of the manure to the land and more markets for feed grain will help dispel concerns.
Gerald Raspberry of Worsley had originally agreed to have a hog barn on his land, but has since withdrawn his application to the Natural Resources Conservation Board, the government agency in charge of approving intensive livestock sites.
“I cancelled my application because of all the anger. It’s created quite a bit of anger and that’s not good at all,” he said.
Raspberry thinks the project would benefit local farmers who must haul their feed grain several hundred kilometres to the nearest elevator, but with only a few years left until retirement, he doesn’t want to start a fight with his neighbours.
“If I was 10 years younger, I would probably leave my application there,” said Raspberry.
