Farm-Scape is sponsored by Manitoba Pork Council and Sask Pork Play Audio Farm-Scape is a Wonderworks Canada production and is distributed courtesy of Manitoba Pork Council and Sask Pork.

Farm-Scape, Episode 1254

The Canadian Pork Council says greenhouse gas mitigation strategies recommended for Canadian swine operations are designed to improve both the environment and profitability.

Demonstration sites established across Canada as part of a federal greenhouse gas mitigation program will give farmers the chance to examine mitigation strategies they can us.

The sites will demonstrate approaches, such as improved energy use in the barn, the use of manure storage covers, better nutrition to reduce manure nitrogen levels and improved fertilizer management including manure and soil testing.

CPC Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Coordinator Cedric MacLeod says one of the biggest questions on the minds of farmers revolve around the economics of the practices.

"There's been some concern that the mitigation of greenhouses from the hog industry are going to result in a lot of extra cash being spent by Canadian hog producers.

What we're finding is that the BMP's, or beneficial management practices, that we're trying to promote generally all have positive economic benefits to the producers. Those include increased efficiencies in our resource usage, which generally translates into increased dollars into our farmers pockets and the less it costs them to produce per hog.

It's important to maintain...and we realize it's important to maintain a focus on economics.

We're not suggesting any of these management practices be adopted by farmers that are going to cost them money.

All of them actually are going to potentially make more money for the producers or at least come to a break even point where no extra dollars are having to be spent in order to implement the practices".

A series producer field days, planned for the summer, will allow farmers to evaluate some of the systems and management practices they can implement to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

For Farmscape.Ca, I'm Bruce Cochrane.