The Green House Gas Mitigation Program for Canadian Agriculture combines best management practices with demonstrations and communication programs aimed at introducing developing technologies to the industry. Prairie Swine Center and the Pork Industry Interpretive Center will be one of the sites in Canada that will be demonstrating these new technologies. The approach includes a three-year program to demonstrate the following technologies; 1) synthetic covers for earthen manure storages (EMS), 2) reduction of GHGs through diet manipulation, 3) installation and monitoring of shelter belt influence on air quality, and 4) making the findings available via a combination of on-site demonstrations, written and electronic communication with pork producers and other visitors to the Interpretive Center.
Synthetic covers reduce the opportunity for odours and other gases to escape from the EMSs, which will halt the decreasing value of the manure as the gases escape. It also eliminates rainwater from entering the EMS, reducing hauling and injection costs. The oversupply of nutrients in pig diets is also a source of emissions and with diet manipulation, these nutrients and their associated costs can be reduced. Shelterbelts will provide long-term carbon sequestration on the site and will provide barriers to wind movement, which can impact energy usage and odour dispersion. Projects such as this one will allow pork producers easy access to determine the technologies that show promise and will allow them to gain valuable information on the cost and challenges of operating these best management practices.