Hog Barn Fire ‘Could Have Been Much Worse’

THE WESTERN
PRODUCER
A hog farm north of Leroy, Sask., is redistributing its stock after a June 18 inferno demolished two barns. Story here. 

Comments

PinP said…
My hope is that one day our farm news media would somehow get innoculated with a good, strong dose of real journalism." Reading the article itself, one would never guess that factory farming is anything but sweetness and light accepted by just about everyone. It is only by reading the comments section that one realizes how deeply-seated is the concern over the whole concept. I'd like to thank the defenders of the industry for at least being honest & making it clear. It is all about money. Environment, health and animal welfare, be damned.
John Fefchak said…

You are so right PinP. It is all about money. Environment, health and welfare, be damned.

FACTS:
Modern meat production, in which thousands of animals are packed into barns or feedlots for concentrated feeding operations, has proven to be efficient and profitable, but comes with its own set of problems.

From Washington state to North Carolina, federal lawsuits are challenging the livestock industry to change its ways, basing arguments on studies that increasingly show the impact that phosphorous, nitrates and bacteria from fertilizer and accumulated manure have on lakes and rivers, as well as air
pollution that can be harmful to respiratory health.

There are also Barn Fires.
It is long past due that barn factories be exposed for what they really are. Death traps; where pigs are helplessly trapped and burned alive! When will mankind realize that this is NOT animal stewardship, it is cruel and detestable treatment.
BARN definition:
A barn is defined as a farm building used for housing and sheltering animals. These hog complexes referred to as 'barns' are factories designed to manufacture animals for meat processing for export. In 2007, Manitoba had 1400 hog producers. Now there are less than 575. We all know this manner of hog production has become an INDUSTRY. Why then is it not regulated as an industry and subject to Environmental Assessment?
Our governments have turned a blind eye to this fact. They allow hog factories to hide, as they do, under the skirts of normal farming.
Economy trumps and takes advantage of the way that animals are being raised for slaughter.

Lets face some other facts also. Bad ideas and poor operating principles are extremely costly and Manitoba's hog industry is also destructive to the environment says experts, and the return to small scale, mixed operation farming is needed to combat the influence of industrial hog operations in the province.You can't raise animals in factories and be environmentally benign says Joe Dolecki, professor of environmental economics at Brandon University.

The shutting down of barns,the drastic culling of the sow herd and the killing of piglets was all accomplished by the hog industry itself. The province had nothing to do with the reduction.
However,……"taxpayers dollars" again were spent to keep this industry afloat.

Factory raised hogs continue to be mistreated, and even found starving for lack of nourishment.
They perish in questionable factory barn fires and die from a ventilation breakdowns, and the list goes on. They are a commodity and suffer the markets and high grain prices.
The stewardship of our food animals, water and environment is in dire need of a complete overhaul and education.
It is time to to revert back to the fundamentals and basics of caring and being grateful.

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