Manitoba’s hog industry is reeling from a surprise provincial government ban on hog production growth.
Farmers should be worried by the government’s apparent willingness to hang an agricultural industry out to dry, says the head of Keystone Agricultural Producers.
“The hog industry has been targeted unfairly and the public perception now because of this decision is that the hog industry has done something wrong,” said KAP president David Rolfe.
“It essentially points the finger at the hog industry and targets them unfairly for water pollution issues, and that’s not the case. The hog industry has done more than most to play by the rules and do whatever they can to be good environmental stewards.”
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Water conservation minister Stan Struthers shocked the industry Nov. 8 when he not only unveiled long-awaited regulation proposals, but also slapped a ban on any new applications for new or expanded hog barns.
“We believe long-term action is necessary to reverse long-term damage to our waterways,” said Struthers when announcing the moratorium, plus a ban on fertilizer use near waterways, environmental reviews that will scrutinize the hog industry and new water quality regulations.
The moratorium allows new and expanded barn proposals already in the works to complete the process, but will stop new proposals coming forward.
The freeze will continue until the Clean Environment Commission can hold hearings on the hog industry’s impact on water quality in the Red River basin. Phosphorus buildup in Lake Winnipeg is a major environmental issue in Manitoba.
The ban on new or expanded operations does not apply to cattle operations and feedlots, ethanol plants, biodiesel plants or other agricultural, industrial and manufacturing businesses that use and affect water quality.
Manitoba Pork Council chair Karl Kynoch said he was horrified when he discovered the government was going to stop new construction proposals even before the Clean Environment Commission held hearings, which could be a year away.
“We’re convicted of being guilty before we’ve even had the trial,” said Kynoch.
The announcement of this moratorium comes at the worst time for the prairie hog industry, Kynoch said, because it is already stumbling from Maple Leaf Foods’ downsizing of its packing plant operations.
“We just came out of a huge announcement from Maple Leaf that they’re shutting down virtually all their packing plants in Canada (except for Brandon), and now this announcement hits us and put pressure on us to ship our pigs south.”
The proposed new slaughter plant for Winnipeg by the OlyWest consortium is still going ahead, spokesperson Guy Baudry said after Struthers’ announcement, but many in the Manitoba hog industry doubt it will be built.
The provincial government is expected to call a spring election and some observers have speculated that this moratorium is a bid to please the party’s environmentalist wing and to undermine criticism of the New Democratic Party by the growing Green Party, which captured a significant number of NDP votes in the last election.
The Green Party in Dauphin, Struthers’ home town, declared itself “delighted” with the moratorium announcement.
Kynoch said he hopes the review can be completed in a year, but it may take longer.
Rolfe said he is disappointed the provincial government has spoiled what had been a co-operative relationship with farmers in developing environmental regulations.
On the same day that the moratorium was announced, new water protection regulations were proposed.
They would put stress on farmers but they were willing to embrace the rules to prove they are good environmental stewards, Rolfe said. Now farmers don’t know whether they can trust the provincial government to work with them.
“It’s created a huge amount of uncertainty in the province for everyone, not just the hog industry,” said Rolfe.
