Hog Barn Moratorium Expected to Devalue Farm Land
MANITOBA - Hog Barn Moratorium Expected to De-value Agricultural Land Manitoba Pork Council warns the province's regional ban on swine barn expansion will devalue existing hog operations in the affected areas and reduce the rural municipal tax base, writes Bruce Cochrane.
26 March 2008
3 minute read
Manitoba Pork Council, the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce and Keystone Agricultural Producers are cooperating in an effort to have the provincial government's decision to ban hog barn expansion in Southeastern Manitoba, the Red River Valley and the Interlake reversed.
Manitoba Pork Council chairman Karl Kynoch says the decision will have a devastating impact on agricultural land values.
For example we have a whole new set of regulations that we have to meet and farmers are quite willing and happy to meet those regulations but if your farm is maybe of the wrong size or a little bit too small and you can't justify meeting this maybe you have to expand the size or just change the structure of the operation to meet the new regulations and that opportunity has been taken away from these farmers.
It's unjustified that the government would actually come out there and just target one industry.
What's really concerning is the fact that the government spent 750 thousand doing a Clean Environment Commission review of our industry and has now went outside those recommendations.
The Clean Environment Commission did not recommend putting a moratorium on the hog industry and we feel that the government has announced this moratorium at the same time the report has come out just trying to blame it on the commission.
It's very disappointing for us to see them do that kind of an investigation on our industry and then go outside the recommendations and put this moratorium on.
Kynoch notes the reductions in agricultural property values will impact the amount of taxes coming into the affected rural municipalities. He stresses, that if these barns end up with a zero value, the RMs will have to look at eliminating the taxes on the them.
Manitoba Pork Council chairman Karl Kynoch says the decision will have a devastating impact on agricultural land values.
Clip-Karl Kynoch-Manitoba Pork Council
What the moratorium has done is taken away the ability for a lot of operations in that area to remain viable.For example we have a whole new set of regulations that we have to meet and farmers are quite willing and happy to meet those regulations but if your farm is maybe of the wrong size or a little bit too small and you can't justify meeting this maybe you have to expand the size or just change the structure of the operation to meet the new regulations and that opportunity has been taken away from these farmers.
It's unjustified that the government would actually come out there and just target one industry.
What's really concerning is the fact that the government spent 750 thousand doing a Clean Environment Commission review of our industry and has now went outside those recommendations.
The Clean Environment Commission did not recommend putting a moratorium on the hog industry and we feel that the government has announced this moratorium at the same time the report has come out just trying to blame it on the commission.
It's very disappointing for us to see them do that kind of an investigation on our industry and then go outside the recommendations and put this moratorium on.
Kynoch notes the reductions in agricultural property values will impact the amount of taxes coming into the affected rural municipalities. He stresses, that if these barns end up with a zero value, the RMs will have to look at eliminating the taxes on the them.
