A REPORT ON CURRENT KNOWLEDGE OF KEY ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES RELATED TO HOG PRODUCTION IN MANITOBA COMISSIONED BY: CLEAN ENVIRONMENT COMMISSION (CEC) October, 2007 For further information, contact: Don Flaten, Department of Soil Science, 307 Ellice Building, University of Manitoba, R3T 2N2, email:
[email protected], phone 474-6257 Karin Wittenberg, Associate Dean (Research), 159 Agriculture Building, University of Maniotba R3T 2N2, email:
[email protected], phone 474-6082 Qiang Zhang, Department of Biosystems Engineering, E2-376 EITC, University of Manitoba, email:
[email protected], phone: 474-9819 PREFACE Background and scope The geographical area that is the province of Manitoba stretches across five distinct terrestrial ecozones, each with a unique combination of land forms, soils, water features, vegetation and climate. Within each ecozone exists a number of ecodistricts characterized with distinctive relief, geography, landforms and soils, vegetation, water, fauna and land use. The majority Manitoba’s agricultural activity, including pig production, lies within the Prairies and southern portions of the Boreal Plains ecozones. Agriculture activity exists to a lesser degree in the northern Boreal Plains and Boreal Shield ecozones, however, industry and public initiatives are likely to increase agriculture, including animal production in these regions. The challenge to Manitoba regulators is great as environmental regulation or policy requires the flexibility to address issues across this broad and geographically diverse landscape. Trends over the past 20 years confirm that Manitoba’s agriculture activity is diverse and remains very dynamic. Pig production has played a major role in this evolution and today leads the agriculture sector in farm cash receipts. However, unlike many other pork producing regions of the world, Canadian farm investment and management practices have two to four fold greater reliance on export markets.