Confined Feeding Operations

[charliep]

The AAFRD Business Plan calls for a total of 6.6 million hogs in Alberta by 2010. The total now is around 3.3 million. More and more municipalities do not want large hog operations within their boundaries because of the push back from the public.
In 2002 Shirley announced that the implementation of the Agricultural Operations Practices Act and the NRCB would administer the act, provide approval officers to review applications for feeding operations and inspectors to provide monitoring and compliance. Some of the monitoring was to be done on the existing operations that had municipal permits as well as those that hadn't bothered to get any sort of permit.

Alberta Pork is telling everyone that will listen that they will not reach the production goal of 6.6 million hogs because the NRCB keeps picking on them.

Fact is that it costs nearly $80 more per hog unit to get established in Alberta because of high land costs, and construction costs etc., plus the fact that it is impossible to get labor.

Now, the solution in my mind would be to rethink the benchmark figure of 6.6 million down to a more realistic number, and then assure municipalities that these operations would be monitored and would have to be in compliance with all the rules to operate.

NOT !! The AAFRD solution is for the Minister to appoint a former Assistant Deputy to be the Chief Operating Officer of the NRCB, and also hire a former Deputy Minister at a significant consulting fee to put together a plan whereby the NRCB would be run by AAFRD and will likely become a rubber stamping agency for applications.

Monitoring and compliance of these operations won't be what it is today, so public confidence is not going to be great. Municipalities have the right to indicate exclusion zones within their Municipal Development Plans where confined feeding operations are not allowed, and these must be respected when applications are received. My sources tell me that municipalities are going to put so many exclusion zones in place around every hamlet, town, village, recreation centre etc. that there won't be anywhere to locate a hog operation unless it is a few areas in the Peace.
Trouble is that anyone wanting to background a few hundred calves will be on the exclusion list as well.
When that happens the folks concerned should say THANKS to Alberta Pork for ruining a system that has been working well for over three years, and was operating an arms length from government vs being in their pack yard !

[charliep]

oops, that should read BACK YARD !

[cowman]

I guess the whole idea of the government taking over from the municipalities has sort of backfired if the municipalities throw up roadblocks to ILOs? It did take the heat off the local council though?
I bet the provincial government is POd by being thwarted out of all their big plans to pave the darned province in manure!

[cowman]

cowman,all the province needs to do is amend the Provincial Land Use policies to REQUIRE that municipalities set aside areas where confined feeding operations can locate. This is what municipalities are afraid of, many of them are allowing country residential parcels well out into the traditional agricultural areas just to twart any potential plans to build hog barns ! It sure hampers all other types of confined feeding operations, and the main reason it is happening is because of the bullying tactics of one sector of the industry.

[cowman]

The Alberta government has this nice little way of setting up policy and then refusing to enforce it. They do it in the oil and gas sector and I guess they are doing it in the ILO business as well? Why set up rules if you won't enforce them?
Maybe they can't afford it or something? Or maybe the employees are too darned lazy to get out from behind the desk?

[cowman]

cowman the NRCB fought for two years for a decent budget to cover costs of inspectors and monitoring of existing and new confined feeding operations. The Audtor General of AB. indicated that the NRCB was to step up monitoring of these operations to protect the environment and instill public confidence. Then industry started to whine, run to the Minister etc., and now we see AAFRD bowing down to industry and attempting to change the rules to have the NRCB mandate amended to a watered down version that is controlled by AAFRD whose business plan is to have 6.6 million hogs in the province by 2010. How many applications do you think will be turned down, and how many inspectors do you think will be checking to see if lagoons are leaking or manure is running into creeks etc?
Municipalities are extremely upset because they were promised an arms length organization that would not take its direction from AAFRD !!! At the present time the NRCB reports to the Minister of Sustainable Resource Development but he seems to be allowing AAFRD to run the show !

[cowman]

What can I say? The joys of politics, right?
The hog boys didn't like how the municipalities were treating them so they lobbied to get the decision making process out of their hands! The government responded...and now it looks like the municipalities are doing an end run around the government!
I would suspect the ILO crowd will now lobby the government to stop the municipalities from setting up restrictive buffer zones? And on it goes...?

[cowman]

do you think the government will want to take on 68 rural municipalities by forcing them to include cfo areas in their Municipal Development Plans ? I just cannot understand how the hog industry can call the shots !!!

[cowman]

No I don't think the government will want to take on the municipalities. I suspect they will dither and divert as long as they can, thus making the problem worse? In the end they will probably realize the best solution is get the hogs and feedlots out of the counties where the people are most opposed and pick off the easier areas?
I think it is time to realize that there are rural areas in this province where the days of the ILO are done and I think the province needs to recognize that and quit encouraging "new Canadians" to set up in those areas? To a Dutch farmer an area along the highway looks ideal for an ILO? He can't understand why the neighbors don't like hog manure and $5000/acre land looks like an incredible bargain!

[cowman]

Most of the municipalities have no clue what is being planned by a few players in industry with assistance from a handful of beaurocrats who are hoping to sneak in some changes before things hit the fan !!

[cowman]

A petition carrying 510 signatures was tabled in the Provincial Legislature this week by an Edmonton MLA. The petition called for a moratorium on all confined feeding operations and also to phase out existing ones within a three year timeframe !!!!!

I am trying to find out where the petition originated, obviously not in Edmonton, but likely in an area that is upset over current CFO's . I doubt that there will be much attention paid to it but it is a significant number of signatures if they are all from one area.

[cowman]

I wonder what would happen if a municipality got enough people signing a petition for something like this? Would it have to go to a referendum or plebisite or something?
In Red Deer County a petition with enough names on it(a certain percentage I believe) forced the council to put the elected reeve question to a petition. Could the same thing be done in regards to ILOs? I realize the NRCB has the final say on ILOs, but as you pointed out the municipality can use zoning, buffer zones etc. to pretty well kill every ILO that might be proposed?
I believe this whole mess is going to come back and haunt the province in the future? If the population in general can stop expansion of ILOs or even eliminate businesses already in operation, is this desirable? In a democracy aren't the majority always right? Is a democracy really the best form of government possible...or is it nothing more than Mob rule?

[cowman]

comwan, a petition of 10% of electors can certainly force a municipality to consider amending their Municipal Development Plan if that many of their citizens did not want Confined Feeding Operations in their municipality.
The thing that is causing grief at this point is the Ministers of AAFRD and Sustainable Resource Developments intention to revamp the NRCB. Groups that oppose feeding operations are concerned that the regulations will be eased and the regulator ( NRCB) will have their clout watered down.

I have heard comments from numerous municipalities over the past couple of weeks and some of them are suggesting putting ten mile CFO Exclusion Zones around all their hamlets, towns, villages, recreation areas and in some instances their rivers, etc.
AAFRD recently had a committee working on proposed changes to the AOPA legislation and regulations and did not see fit to include municipal representation on that committee so small wonder things are starting to backfire against the industry. It is a shame because most of the backlash seems to be against hog operations not other livestock but all sectors will pay the price if there is a push back from the general public in rural Alberta.
The final say in whether feeding operations are suitable in specific zones within municipalities rests with the municipality but a Board Hearing can result in allowing an operation to locate in a specific area even if the municipality has designed it as an exclusion zone within their MDP. I would doubt that the Board would over ride MDP's though, unless it was a very excepional circumstance.

Mind you, all it takes is the stroke of a pen in the Legislature to take away zoning rights from municipalities, and that is one thing that municipal councils are concerned about according to some of the folks I have spoken to.

[cowman]

Well thank you for keeping me up on this subject. I am always interested in the politics of the province and municipalities.
I think the original way the province set out to handle the problem was the best one? There were some really brutal fights before where no one really came out the winner. It is unfortunate that through lack of funding from the province they failed to follow through and create an environment where these things were seen as fair and up to snuff?
I often wonder why the provincial Tories have such a problem following through with the systems they set up and usually try to do everything on the cheap? Like I don't think they are broke or something?
The oil and gas companies are forced to basically police themselves because Alberta is too cheap to hire inspectors to see things are being done properly! Why bother having any rules if you have no intention of enforcing them?

[cowman]

At the AAMD C Convention last week , in response to a question from one of the Reeves from southern AB.,Horner assured the over 500 delegates that he had no intention of amending the AOPA legislation. It is going to be interesting to see if he has the B-- to keep his promise, because no doubt industry will demand that the legislation is changed, to take the teeth out of it I suspect.