Saskatchewan’s new farm nuisance complaint settlement board hasn’t quelled the first dispute it tried to resolve.
“I’m not going to accept it,” said Cudworth, Sask. farmer Leo Kurtenbach a day after he learned the Agricultural Operations Review Board had rejected his complaint about a local hog barn. “I’ll be seeing my lawyer in the morning.”
The board, set up by the provincial government to hear complaints about intensive livestock operations, ruled the barn Kurtenbach complained about was operating not only up to industry standards, but in some areas was better than the industry standard.
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Kurtenbach said the barn stank up the area and made his home difficult to enjoy any day the wind was blowing from the direction of the hog barn.
Kurtenbach said he might ask the provincial government to refuse an environmental permit for the barn’s proposed expansion and if that doesn’t work he might take his dispute to court.
The board was created by Saskatchewan’s Agricultural Operations Act as an attempt to settle disputes and resolve complaints before farmers ended up fighting in court.
Even though its first case may end up in court anyway, Saskatchewan agriculture minister Eric Upshall doesn’t think this is an early sign of problems.
He said disputes may not end with the board’s ruling, but if they go on to court, the judge will likely have the full record of the board hearing and be able to “look favorably on the decision of the board.”
Just by having the board, fewer disputes will probably arise, said Upshall. People complaining about farms will first have to go through the review process before they can drag a farmer into court, Upshall said.
But he said it is also important that concerns about livestock operations be taken seriously.
“If we have a problem with a livestock operation … that is the worst thing that the industry can have,” he said.
Unresolved problems could stunt the Saskatchewan livestock industry, said Upshall.
“I want to make sure there’s a process in place whereby we reduce the risk of anything negative happening that could hobble the growth of the industry.”
By having farm disputes adjudicated by the board, which is made up of farmers, Upshall said he thinks conflicts can be depoliticized.
But Kurtenbach said he didn’t trust the board because it was appointed by the provincial government, which is a major promoter of hog barns similar to the one at the root of his complaint.
Upshall said the board was composed of respected producers who could objectively rule on livestock operation disputes.
Followed the law
Board chair Tom Keeping, of Garrick, Sask., said the decision on Kurtenbach’s complaint was easy.
Even though board members had “empathy and compassion” for Kurtenbach’s complaint, Keeping said the hog barn uses normally acceptable practices, so there was little option but to dismiss the complaint.
Keeping hoped the board’s decisions carry considerable weight in cases that end up in court and said that should make producers happy.
“As a farmer, I’m never happy having judges make decisions on things like dust and nuisance (from a farm),” he said. “I think they could use some assistance from farmers.”
Upshall said it will take a couple of years to see whether the board is managing to protect farmers from frivolous lawsuits while still dealing with serious environmental issues.
Nettie Wiebe, president of the National Farmers Union, said the lack of resolution of Kurtenbach’s dispute is a worry.
“That’s not a promising opening, is it,” she said.
