Farmscape for November 8, 2016

The President of DGH Engineering says the construction of swine production facilities requires considerably more up front planning than was the case 10 years ago.
DGH Engineering, on behalf of Manitoba Pork, has developed cost estimates for the construction of new hog production facilities.
The estimates indicate new facilities, built from scratch on vacant land will cost in the order of 500 to 520 dollars per pig place, compared to about 300 dollars in 2001.
DGH President Dennis Hodgkinson says, in addition to the increased costs, producers considering new construction must navigate a complex approval process.

Clip-Dennis Hodgkinson-DGH Engineering:
Back when I started in this industry you could literally plan a barn one week and be under construction the next and people did that.
That's not the reality today.
Right now people need to be thinking a year in advance.
They need to be planning now what they hope to do next year.
A realistic time line is, from the commencement of the planning process to being able to put a shovel in the ground, people need to think in terms of eight months.
For next spring construction, we're already crowding the limits here in terms of being in time.
That's a new reality for sure.
The next thing I think that people need to do is realize that the building permit requirements now require that you pre-engineer the things, you get engineer plans, you file for permits in that regard.
You need to make your decisions on exactly what you're going to do, get your material list together, determine your costs, ship a plan out for tender if you're entertaining bids from contractors.
All of it is related to preplanning and going forward.

Hodgkinson says, in terms of costs, it is possible to be economical but producers are in a position where they pretty much have to accept what's available in the market place.
For Farmscape.Ca, I'm Bruce Cochrane.

       *Farmscape is a presentation of Sask Pork and Manitoba Pork