Assistance for Complying with Environmental Rules

Manitoba's agriculture minister has indicated the province is aware of the need for pork producers to increase manure storage capacity to comply with a planned 2013 ban on winter manure spreading and promised help in financing those kinds of improvements.

Manitoba Pork Council sustainable development programmes manager Mike Teillet says some producers have already decided to exit the industry because they can't the cost of building the 400 day storage required under the new regulations.

Mike Teillet-Manitoba Pork Council

That's good news that the minister has stated they are looking at some kind of financing programme or programmes.

We would certainly look forward to that and the quicker the better.

There would be two aspects of the programme that we would be concerned about.

One would be that if the amount available to farmers is so small as to not make it worth their while to even bother with building a storage, for example if it's only going to be 10 or 20 per cent of the cost.

If you're looking at a 150 thousand dollar storage and you only get 15 thousand from the province to build it that's not going to encourage anyone to go out and build a storage facility.

The other aspect that would be of concern to us would be if there isn't enough total money in the pot which has happened in some previous programmes where only a handful of producers can actually access the fund before it runs out.

Those would be our two main concerns and it would be something we would hope the province would positively address.

Mr Teillet says with only three growing seasons left before the ban takes effect time is critical.

He notes producers need at least a year to plan and secure the necessary permits to construct a new manure storage facility.