How should complaints about livestock smells be handled?
What impact has livestock production had on local property values?
Should spreading manure in winter be completely banned?
These are among 30 questions the Manitoba government is asking citizens at a series of public meetings starting in late June. It is looking for ways to address the contentious growth of the livestock industry.
Last week, the agriculture and intergovernmental affairs ministers released a 39-page discussion paper that gives an overview of why livestock operations are growing, concerns about the growth, and regulations covering livestock both in Manitoba and elsewhere.
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But Rosann Wowchuk and Jean Friesen were mum about what they make of the expansion.
“The most important thing is, we want to hear from the public,” said Wowchuk, adding that the best recommendations for changes often come from people “living in the situation.”
She said more livestock means more opportunity for Manitobans, but the growth must be sustainable.
Friesen said the government wants to amend the Planning Act to better co-ordinate the approval process for livestock barns and ensure there is enough public notice and consultation.
Manitoba Pork Council chair Marcel Hacault said the discussion paper does a good job explaining the differences between livestock production and regulations in Manitoba and other provinces and places like North Carolina, Denmark and Holland.
“I see it as a good tool for awareness-raising,” said Hacault, who also produces hogs at Niverville.
Uniform rules
Hacault hopes recommendations emerging from the talks don’t create red tape for farmers, but instead lead to more uniform siting rules between municipalities.
Weldon Newton, vice-president of Keystone Agricultural Producers, said he hopes recommendations are based on sound science applicable to Manitoba conditions.
“I think we have to recognize what the livestock industry has already done to safeguard the environment,” said Newton, a hog farmer from Neepawa. “I’m sure that will come out in the discussion.”
But a spokesperson for the environmental coalition Hog Watch Manitoba decried the informality of the public meetings. Winnipeg lawyer Brian Pannell said the government is showing a lack of leadership by not acting on concerns raised by his group.
He said the Clean Environment Commission should hold formal hearings on hog barn expansion so the government will be forced to disclose information about water sampling, complaints and the locations of hog barns.
“The people who know most about this are, guess who? The people asking the questions,” said Pannell.
A three-member panel will hold the meetings, compile information and make recommendations to the government in the fall.
The panel is chaired by Ed Tyrchneiwicz, an agricultural economist well-schooled in holding discussions on controversial issues.
He helped justice Emmett Hall with his mid-1970s inquiry into branch-line abandonment. He also chaired the producer payment panel in the 1980s.
Most recently, Tyrchneiwicz has been involved with the International Institute for Sustainable Development. He said it’s important to have responsible economic growth in rural Manitoba and wants to “go beyond the well-spoken vested interests and get a broader range of views” of how growth should happen.
“I don’t come into it with a preconceived notion that everything is good, or that we’re on the road to hell and damnation.”
Tyrchneiwicz wants the panel to examine evidence rather than just opinions, and find some middle ground on the controversial issues.
“An ultimate solution will probably leave most people grumbling somewhat,” he said.
