Despite media reports that the Manitoba government plans to lift its ban on the winter spreading of livestock manure, the ban will remain in effect.
As part of Bill 24, the Red Tape Reduction and Government Efficiency Act, introduced at the Manitoba Legislature last week, the Manitoba government plans to remove from the Environment references to a ban on winter manure spreading. However, the ban will remain in effect as part of other provincial government legislation.
Mike Teillet, the Manager of Sustainable Development Programs with Manitoba Pork, notes provisions banning winter manure spreading were actually referenced in two pieces of provincial legislation.
They were in the Environment Act and they were in Livestock Manure and Mortalities Management Regulation. The regulation and the act both said that winter spreading of manure, that is application of manure on frozen ground, between November 10 and April 10 of any year was not permitted so really nothing is changing. In essence Bill 24, the Red Tape Reduction Act, is simply taking a redundancy out of the Environment Act.
Manitoba Pork has never requested or asked the government to remove the ban on winter spreading and, when we say winter spreading we’re talking about spreading manure on frozen ground. The Pork Council’s position has always been that that has been a reasonable restriction and we’ve never been opposed to it.
~ Mike Teillet, Manitoba Pork
Teillet says removing references to winter livestock manure spreading from the Environment Act simply eliminates redundancy and the actual effect of the change is nil.
