Banks may be willing to lend money to fuel the explosion of hog barns in Manitoba.
But when it comes to giving money to help find new ways to deal with the deluge of manure coming from those barns, Garland Laliberte found the bank doors closed.
“We were disappointed there,” said Laliberte, chair of the Manitoba Livestock Manure Management Initiative Inc.
The initiative, started last January by Manitoba agriculture minister Harry Enns, was given the task of raising $3 million over three years to fund research into handling and disposing of hog manure.
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However, it has raised only about $600,000 in its first year. Most of the money came from hog producers through Manitoba Pork.
Laliberte said feed manufacturers and input suppliers also provided “good support” to the fund.
But financial institutions gave very little, said Laliberte.
“They couldn’t see us other than in the same group of organizations that approach them for donations,” he said.
“They basically say they don’t invest in any particular industry: they loan money to industries ….”
Manitoba farmers and investors are projected to spend $1.4 billion on barns and animals if they double hog production by 2005, much of which will be borrowed from banks.
Efforts continue
Laliberte is still knocking on doors of pork processors to try to drum up more money.
And he’s going to try to get some matching investment from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.
Laliberte said he’s been pleased with the co-operation between several funding agencies in the province, which have worked together to put money into some research projects.
The Canadian Pork Council also has some manure management funds up for grabs, he said.
If all else fails, Laliberte said he will go back to the provincial government to ask for more money.
The government gave $100,000 in start-up funds to the initiative.
But he’s given up on the banks.
“You can spend a lot of time fund-raising, I’ve learned, and unless you go after a dollar at a reasonable level, you spend more of your resources getting the money than you actually get.”
