Page 28 of articles about environment

Limits on expansion in Manitoba's hog industry, again meant to reduce phosphorus levels in Lake Winnipeg, will now include a requirement for "advanced environmental practices" on farms before new barns can be built.

Since the beginning of this year a program on measures for restricting and liquidating nitrate pollution from agricultural sources in vulnerable zones came into force. Application period is from January 1, 2011 to December 31, 2014 The program is compulsory for all farmers of nitrate vulnerable zones in the country.

The judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit have ruled that the Clean Water Act did not give the EPA the authority to require Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations to obtain discharge permits on the presumption they would discharge pollution to the waters of the state.

Pig industry organizations from around the world are in talks about starting a coordinated international campaign to keep the environmental impact of pork production as low as possible.

The Agrarian Research Institute of the University of Wageningen (LEI) has carried out a study on the estimation of ammonia emissions in 2020. According to data obtained, emissions will reach 100 million kilograms, which, in comparison with 2007, represents a decrease of 20 million kilograms. These figures do not include the use of chemical fertilizers in the greenhouse horticulture sector and the gardening sector, nor co-fermentation.

A Council for Agricultural Science and Technology study on North American air quality has been released, focusing on the topic as it relates to the areas of swine, poultry, dairy and beef farming.

Between 2008 and 2010, SAGARPA has economically supported the installation of 324 bio-digesters on swine and dairy farms, as well as slaughterhouses, resulting in production savings and generating electricity equivalent to 69 giga watts per year, thus preventing the emission of over 1,4 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

The pig industry is setting out how it intends to achieve reductions in its environmental impact in a Roadmap just launched by BPEX and partners. The document sets out targets for the reduction of key environmental burdens over the next 10 years.

The Ministry of Economics, Agriculture and Innovation asked LEI to investigate the macro-economic effects of reduced-phosphorous feed. This request was translated into research into the influence of reduced phosphorous feed on the price of pig feeds, the influence on the manure surplus in kilos of phosphate, the effect on the necessary processing capacity of pig manure and the costs savings that this achieves. In addition, the research looked into the risks perceived by the animal feed industry, both for the industry itself and for pig farmers.