Linda Vogel, presenting on behalf of the federation, said that if no livestock exist on a farm, minimum distance separation distances should still be used to keep residences at bay.

"We need to protect our environment," she said, but she also asked that the government be committed to preserving the operations existing in the province.

At the end of her presentation, she told the committee chaired by minister Chris Stockwell of Ministry of Environment that nutrient management plans by a farm organization should not be reviewed by neighbours, but by experts sworn to confidentiality.

"We have done everything right," she said, referring to the hog barn for 1,120 pigs she and her husband Paul Vogel are building. Though the proposed barn was 2,800 feet from the nearest neighbour, 50 showed up at a meeting.

When some of the people saw the spread of 2,500 gallons of manure in the nutrient management plan they went ballistic. But 2,500 gallons of manure spread over a large acreage is harmless. Once the neighbours start misinterpreting information " we have to start dealing with lawyers," Linda Vogel said.

A nutrient management plan is a working tool, she said, subject to change as the weather or markets change. Consequently, the application on the amount of manure will changed.

To make for problems with short-term changes, she suggested a five-year plan.

The Glengarry Federation of Agriculture says the cost for implementing a nutrient management plan could be devastating. On an average size operation, the cost is between $1,800 and $4,000. Conservation authorities are offering a $500 refund but that is not enough, Linda Vogel, representing the Glengarry Federation of Agriculture said. "Compensation must become part of the government package."