A temporary pause on hog barn expansions has become permanent for a large part of the province. The decision comes in the wake of a long awaited report from Manitoba's Clean Environment Commission. The province says the ban is needed to protect our water.

"When we introduced the [2006 ban], we did so to determine if growth in the industry was environmentally sustainable,'' Conservation Minister Stan Struthers said Monday as he released the commission's report.

"Clearly, in some parts of our province, the answer is no.''

The indefinite moratorium will affect the areas with about three-quarters of Manitoba's hogs: the Interlake, Winnipeg regions and the Red River Valley.

Struthers also announced new rules for all hog producers to keep manure from flowing into streams and rivers. The rules include:

  • A ban on winter spreading of manure, to be in place by 2013.
  • New minimum land-size requirements for areas where manure will be spread.
  • New phosphorus limits for fertilizer.
  • The changes left the $1.7 billion dollar Manitoba pork industry reeling.

Pork Council says it's not fair

The changes left the $1.7 billion dollar Manitoba/>/> pork industry reeling. 

"We're absolutely stunned,'' said Andrew Dickson, general manager of the Manitoba Pork Council.

"They're not banning any other development, such as housing or new factories. I could build a 100,000-head [cattle] feed lot in this moratorium area and there's no ban on that.''

The hog industry has been a prime target for Manitoba environmentalists, largely because it has exploded over the last decade. There were 4.8 million hogs, little more than half the current population, in the province in 2000, according to government statistics.

The province plans to help hog producers pay to upgrade their operations to meet the new rules, Struthers promised. About $2.5 million is to be set aside in the current budget to do that. Details will be announced in the coming days, Struthers said.

At public hearings on the industry last year, environmentalists produced aerial photos of massive hog operations that showed pig waste lying in vast sewage lagoons not far from rivers. They argued runoff from the farms works its way into rivers that lead to Lake Winnipeg, where pollution and algae growth has harmed water quality.

Pork producers argue they are far from the only source of pollution, and point to communities such as Winnipeg, where heavy rains frequently overwhelm the sewer system and cause raw sewage to spill into the Red River.

The government has targeted urban pollution by helping Winnipeg pay for sewage treatment upgrades and by imposing new limits to take effect in 2010 on phosphorus in dishwasher detergents.

"Everybody contributes to the problems in Lake Winnipeg. We think everybody should contribute to the solution,'' Struthers said.

With files from the Canadian Press.