Yanggang Province is calling on its residents to strictly comply with rules regulating livestock excrement.
A source in Yanggang Province told Daily NK on Friday that the province pointed to problems in the management of livestock farming in accordance with state quarantine policy. It took particular issue with how many counties are failing to strictly follow regulations for managing livestock excrement, rules that “help livestock and prevent harm to residents.”
Yanggang Province officials criticized some counties such as Kapsan County and Pochon County for improperly processing livestock excrement, hurting residents and hindering quarantine activities, and called on county authorities to take the lead in preventing such harm.
Calling on agricultural hamlets and villages to effectively process their livestock excrement, the province is demanding an end to mixing excrement with powdered lime to make pig feed. Rather, farmers should boil livestock excrement before using it as feed, at least for the time being, with the province strongly warning agricultural communities to suspend raising livestock if they lack the necessary kindling.
The authorities are essentially demanding that livestock farms and private livestock farmers boil all their fodder at over 100 degrees celsius. If they cannot, they must suspend their livestock-related activities.
The province also ordered that farms should stop sending pig and dog excrement to breeding grounds for black fly larvae, which are used as animal feed, because of questions over whether using such unsanitary material to breed black fly larvae is a good idea.
Farmers have welcomed this last order in particular. According to them, it was the party that ordered people to gather excrement to send to the breeding grounds, so they are happy to stop doing that if the party says so.
However, the source also said the leadership made it clear there will be only a temporary suspension, and that farms will have to resume excrement collection in the future “since party livestock policy calls for black fly larvae production.”
Meanwhile, Yanggang Province’s party committee called on city and county quarantine agencies to ensure strict compliance with regulations by paying frequent visits to livestock bases and households that raise livestock to see if they are breaking the rules, and to punish any violators.
Translated by David Black. Edited by Robert Lauler.
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