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Manitoba hog farmers present the Zero Per Cent Solution

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Manitoba hog farmers present the Zero Per Cent Solution
Manitoba’s hog farmers have identified a solution that could
transform Bill 17 – the Anti-Farm Bill – into environment and
farm-friendly legislation.

September 16, 2008, Winnipeg, Man. – Manitoba’s hog farmers have identified a solution that could transform Bill 17 – the Anti-Farm Bill – into environment and farm-friendly legislation.

The Manitoba Pork Council has presented its plan to Conservation Minister Stan Struthers as an amendment to Bill 17.

By setting three specific requirements for phosphorus application to cropland, this proposal would mean that phosphorus would be taken up and used by crops – the Zero Per Cent Solution.

“The solution is not in banning buildings and economic development, but in managing nutrients,” says Karl Kynoch, chairman of the Manitoba Pork Council . “We believe our Zero Per Cent Solution eliminates the need for a ban and would allow the $1 billion Manitoba pork industry to continue to be a provincial success story for all Manitobans.”

The Zero Per Cent Solution proposes that new and expanding operations:

• Limit manure application on cropland for new or expanding operations to a rate of one-time phosphorus removal (a rate at which the crop will use all phosphorus in the manure applied to the ground over five years);
• Not apply manure in the winter to reduce runoff; and
• Require that manure be incorporated into the ground either through direct injection or through working it in within 48 hours.

This recommendation is taken directly from the Clean Environment Commission’s December 2007 report.

Phosphorus comes from many sources, and only 1.5 percent or less is estimated to come from land to which hog manure has been applied. Phosphorus can enter the water system and cause algal blooms.

Bill 17, if passed in its current form, would ban all new hog barns or barn expansions on over 6.5 million acres of land in southern Manitoba, effectively killing the hog industry.

“As good stewards of the land, we are more than willing to do our part in nutrient management to protect the province’s waterways,” says Kynoch.

Manitoba Pork Council represents the province’s 1,000 hog producers and works on their behalf to foster the sustainability and prosperity of the pork industry for the good of all Manitobans.