Designed
with water quality in mind
Agriculture is a living science
and economy. Agriculture relies on having sufficient quantities
of good quality water for virtually every aspect of production,
from plants to animals to processing. It is in agriculture's
best interest to protect and conserve the water supplies it
so depends on, and producers know and accept this as a way
of life.
Many hog barns are being built
in Saskatchewan. This is one way agricultural producers are
helping to sustain the rural economy.
But large operations like hog barns
can degrade the environment if not properly built and operated.
Major concerns are cleanliness, disease and ensuring the local
farmland can assimilate the manure without polluting the groundwater.
Another challenge is controlling manure odour. To satisfy
the local residents, consultation groups have been established
to address questions and concerns.
Predictions are risky
Predicting water trends is fraught
with uncertainty. Market trends invariably impact upon economic
decisions and the water environment. Weather, variable by
nature, is subject to large fluctuations in precipitation.
Water flows on some streams have been recorded as much as
100 times greater from one period of the same year to another.
There are also large variations in water flows year to year.
Snow conditions in the Rocky Mountains can affect water flows
in the Saskatchewan River system. Flash rains and floods can
wash sediments, fertilizers and other chemicals from fields
and cause abnormally high concentrations of plant nutrients
and harmful chemicals to suddenly appear in a lake, stream
or river.
Hauling it in and hauling
it out
Pound-Maker near Lanigan feeds
about 50,000 cattle a year. That’s a lot of steaks, roasts
and hamburger. It takes tonnes of feed, minerals and water
to finish these cattle. But that’s just half of it –
most of the feed and bedding that goes into the feedlot is
hauled out as manure.
The farmers supplying Pound-Maker
with bedding and feed take back a share of the manure as fertilizer.
This is a mutually beneficial deal. A limited amount of manure
per hectare is taken since it must be ‘worked into’
the soil without leaching into the groundwater or being carried
away by surface runoff water.
Pound-Maker’s ethanol production
facility creates another environmental benefit. Rather than
being used to feed the cattle, whole or crushed grain is fermented
to produce ethanol, a gasoline additive that reduces car emissions.
The nutrient rich grain residue is fed to the cattle as a
superior feed. By producing ethanol, Pound-Maker extracts
extra value from the grain while at the same time reducing
air pollution. |
