Mike Teillet, the Manager of Sustainable Development Manitoba Pork, says a number of countries have undertaken a range of activities over the last 10 to 15 years or more to reduce livestock's contribution to pollution and greenhouse gas production.
Mike Teillet-Manitoba Pork:
We believe the livestock sector has gone to significant lengths to reduce greenhouse gases and other pollutants.
I think the livestock sector generally has become much more environmentally friendly over the last few years.
I'll give you examples, some numbers that the American National Pork Board has come out with.
They estimate that that pig farmers in the U.S. use 78 percent less land, 41 percent less water and release 35 percent less greenhouse gases per pound of pig produced today, as compared to 50 years ago.
We don't have specific numbers on that in Canada but we think our numbers would be very similar to that so we think we've come a long way on this and it's not like we've stopped.
We're continuing to improve all the time.
Teillet notes, while pork production only contributes about 1.3 percent of world wide greenhouse gas emissions, the industry appreciates it is part of the problem and wants to be part of the solution and is doing what it can to reduce its footprint.
Source: Farmscape