Consumption on the Rise

A “clear priority”
According to the Manitoba Pork Council, which
represents roughly 600 producers in the province, the
Lake Winnipeg Stewardship Board information indicates
that all of agriculture in the watershed contributes just
15 per cent of the phosphorus going into the lake, and
pork production accounts for 1.5 per cent of that.
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“Allowing the hog industry to
expand without limit would put our
rivers and lakes at risk,”
– Dr. David Schindler of the University of Alberta
The council said that protecting Lake Winnipeg and
addressing excess phosphorus is a “clear priority.” In
March the group released a report called Embracing a
Sustainable Future, which addressed this issue.
The following are several key points of Manitoba
Pork’s phosphorous plan, dubbed “Plan P”:
1. Asking the provincial government to join Manitoba
Pork in persuading the federal government to end
its requirement that phosphorus be added to all
animal feed. This will reduce the phosphorus in the
manure applied as a crop nutrient (addressing feed
ingredients and feed efficiency);
2. Applying manure at rates suitable to match the
needs of the crop;
3. Either injecting the manure four to five inches below
the soil surface, or surface applying and cultivating
immediately to work it into the soil;
4. Ending the former practice of applying manure onto
frozen soils in winter (only a few small producers
still do this);
5. Adopt new manure handling methods and
technologies such as solid-liquid separation.
Manitoba Pork plans to request that the Canadian
Food Inspection Agency lower or remove its minimum
required phosphorous levels in processed feeds, as
the levels hold back producers’ efforts to reduce
phosphorous.
The council also said in will strongly encourage pig
producers to invest in manure separation technology in
those areas where it is difficult to access enough cropland
to fully utilize all of the plant nutrients in manure.
Manitoba Pork also noted that pork production in
the province has shrunk since 2007 due to a confluence
of factors, economic and otherwise. The population of
pigs in Manitoba is probably around 2.5 million at any
one time (500,000 fewer than in 2007). A good portion
(about 3.5 million) of the pigs produced in Manitoba
are shipped out of the province when they are still small
weanlings and their manure output is much less than an
older, larger pig.
- staff
meatbusiness.ca
July/August 2011 Canadian Meat Business 17