Farmscape for February 7, 2008  (Episode 2747)

Manitoba Conservation plans to make public the Manitoba Clean Environment Commission final report on the environmental sustainability of the hog industry by the end of the month.

The Manitoba Clean Environment Commission submitted its final report yesterday on the environmental sustainability of the province's hog industry.

The panel spent just over a year gathering input from scientists, the agriculture community and the public on environmental concerns related to hog production and what's being done to address those concerns.

Conservation Minister Stan Struthers says the commission conducted a thorough investigation and he intends to be equally thorough over the next three weeks, as he examines the report.

Clip-Stan Struthers-Manitoba Conservation Minister 

We're going to work hard at it to make sure that we understand what we need to do to move forward in terms of protecting water in Manitoba, in terms of understanding the impact that hog producers will undergo.

I have just received the report so I haven't looked at all of the recommendations but we will be working hard over the next three weeks or so to make sure that we move forward in a progressive manner.

I've lived my life in rural Manitoba rural Saskatchewan.

I think there's a lot of things farmers do that make sense.

I don't think that farmers get enough credit for the kind of environmental good decisions that they make and that's why I believe that I owe it to them among others to give this report its due diligence.

We will be working very hard between now and the end of the month to make sure that we understand what this report is saying and that we understand the impact as we move forward.

The pause on new or expanded hog barn development which was imposed during the investigation has been extended to February 29.

Struthers says the extension will give the province the time it takes to get this right and a response will be forthcoming at that time.

For Farmscape.Ca, I'm Bruce Cochrane.

       *Farmscape is a presentation of Sask Pork and Manitoba Pork Council