The Manitoba hog industry is looking for a major expansion which could involve as many as 100 new hog barns being constructed. The Pallister government, seeing dollar signs, is eager to expedite this expansion. With that in mind it has put forward the Red Tape Reductions Act, and a number of other measures, to make it easier for more barns to be built.
It’s late summer, the Big House is resting, and MLAs are taking to the barbecue circuit, or off to pristine tropical hideaways for a break. But come October they will be right back at it, attempting to push through the red tape legislation.
Back in 2007 the Clean Environment Commission issued a report entitled “Environmental Sustainability and Hog Production in Manitoba”. The report made a number of recommendations to government specific to water issues, among them:
· Conduct research on trends in soil test phosphorus and transport mechanisms that result in it getting into surface waters.
· Undertake a 5 year review of the phosphorus application provisions of the Livestock Mortalities and Manure Management Regulation (including evaluation of thresholds, effect on adjacent watercourses, and compliance with the rules).
· Conduct studies into liquid manure seeping through the earth towards an aquifer and long term effects on groundwater.
· Monitoring of surface water for microbial contaminants and other pathogens.
· Evaluate hog manure for the presence of antibiotics and antibiotic resistant bacteria.
· Publish trend reports on the data collected.
· Establish a Watershed Studies Institute to coordinate the water related initiatives.
At the time the C.E.C. report stated “Environmental sustainability is achievable but it cannot be put off into the future”. Ten years on and very little of the called for studies and research has been done. Now it appears we are going from “pause” (as in the moratorium on new barns) to “fast forward” (as in a major expansion). Has someone lost their senses?
Bad things happen when excess phosphorus gets into surface water bodies. Lake Winnipeg has the unfortunate reputation as the most eutrophic of the world’s ten largest freshwater lakes. I recently heard a CBC interview with a realtor who has been dealing with cottage properties around Lake Winnipeg for many years. At the end he was asked what is the biggest challenge facing the cottage market. Without hesitation he said it was the ongoing deterioration of the lake water quality. At some point the lake dies, the fishery is gone, and recreational value lost.
Manitoba Pork continues to make the unsubstantiated claim that Manitoba hogs contribute 1% or less of the phosphorus to the lake. This in the forlorn hope that if they repeat it often enough people may actually come to believe it’s true. It’s not credible and they know it. Hog manure is applied at rates of phosphorus way in excess of what a single crop can remove – it’s called “phosphorus loading”, and it’s a problem.
Our politicians need to think again, reset the pause button, and undertake the necessary studies and research related to intensive hog production before giving consideration of any expansion. Our Big Lake is way too valuable a resource to sacrifice to the financial interests of Big Pork.
Jon Crowson, Oak River.
