The Chief Operator Officer with Hylife says, to maintain the viability of Manitoba’s pork production and processing industries, there is a need to replace older hog finishing barns and add new ones.
In April 2015 the Manitoba government and Manitoba Pork agreed to a new pilot project under which pork producers can apply for permits to build new or expand existing swine barns.
Under the program producers must comply with 11 conditions over and above existing requirements including new soil phosphorus application limits, the use of two cell manure storages and requirements that manure be injected or incorporated within 48 hours of application.
Hylife Chief Operating officer Claude Vielfaure says Maple Leaf is running well below full capacity and, while Hylife is running close to capacity, it could also use more pigs.
It’s been quite a few years that we haven’t been able to build barns in Manitoba and so our facilities today are actually getting old. You need to be replacing a certain portion of your faculties on a yearly basis so we’re way behind the 8-ball on that one.
Manitoba Pork has done research on the cost of finishing barns and certainly it’s come at a fairly bigger price than it was 10 years ago, because of cost of concrete and construction and wood and competiveness out there on the construction side. It’s something that is being looked at.
Cost of a finishing bam is probably close to doubled in the last 10 to 15 years and it’s a fairly significant number and so you need to be able to pay it off. It’s not only about building a barn but being competitive and being able to pay for that facility. ~ Claude Vielfaure – Hylife
Vielfaure stresses it’s not about building sow barns or nurseries, it’s about finishing barns.
He says we have over 3 million pigs a year that go across the border to the U.,S. that could certainly be finished in Manitoba and make this industry a lot more sustainable and viable long term.
