Hogs are one of the main businesses based across rural Manitoba, so you might think municipal governments were well acquainted with hog farms and the pork industry.
But that’s not the case, Manitoba Pork Council discovered when reaching out to local governments.
“After we met with a few municipalities, we realized many were unfamiliar with our sector completely,” said Grant Melnychuk, MPC’s municipal outreach manager.
“So we broadened it to be more of starting a dialogue with municipalities just in terms of answering whatever questions they might have.”
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MPC has been meeting with municipalities as part of an attempt to ease the way for the barn rebuildings and expansions that are likely to come. It’s been years since there were many hog barn projects happening in rural Manitoba, so briefing municipalities on the contemporary reality of hog production is key to avoiding misunderstandings.
“It’s gone very well,” said Melnychuk, who worked with the Manitoba government’s municipal relations department for 17 years before joining MPC in 2019.
Municipal councillors and staff were interested in what goes on in today’s barns, what steps producers take to guard against damage to the environment, how humane treatment of pigs is ensured, and a host of other issues.
Many were interested in combatting the spread of wild pigs, which are moving across Western Canada and providing reservoirs for disease.
At one time, heated battles over proposed hog barn developments were a common occurrence in Manitoba and the rest of Western Canada. Municipal battles raged, often leading to divided local communities and lost opportunities. Hog barn proponents were sometimes accused of imperilling local water and land, while hog farmers felt frustrated by their inability to get environmentally approved projects completed.
With an era of barn rebuilding and replacement, if not general expansion, likely, the pork industry is hoping to avoid the misunderstandings of the past.
Melnychuk said municipal outreach will probably remain a regular feature of the MPC’s work. Municipalities are living entities.
“Since there was a municipal election last year we may have to go back out and meet with some municipalities that we’ve already met with because there’s been a large turnover on council,” said Melnychuk.
