CANADA, March 13 - As the Province continues to focus on building the livestock sector across the Island, updates are being made to the Manure Management Guidelines as an additional resource for local farmers.

Last updated in 1999, the Provincial Manure Management Guidelines provide direction to government, the agriculture industry and members of the public for recommended manure management practices on PEI. Some beneficial changes in the new guidelines include:

• Increase in recommended storage capacities;
• Adjustments to how the minimum separation distance is calculated between livestock operations and non-agricultural land uses;
• Addition of a climate lens and increased focus on best management practices for the future;
• Increased involvement for professional engineers in the design and construction phase;

“Over the past year, we have taken a real focus on what we can do to build our herds, build our soil health, and we are proud to be updating our Provincial Manure Management Guidelines which will help guide our entire agriculture industry. There was a lot of hard work that went into these changes and I want to thank everyone who was involved in updating these guidelines, so that our industry can use manure as a valuable resource instead of simply a waste product.”

- Deputy Premier and Minister of Agriculture Bloyce Thompson

The changes being announced stem from an in-depth review and process that contracted agricultural and environmental specialists to research best practices in manure management, technical focus groups, meetings with the livestock industry, and a broad consultation series.

For more information on beneficial initiatives through the Department of Agriculture such as the Provincial Livestock Strategy or Sustainable Canadian Agriculture Partnership, visit: Agriculture.

Media contact:
Kip Ready 
Senior Communications Officer 
Department of Agriculture
kjready@gov.pe.ca