Three top executives of an award-winning Southern Alberta hog-farming operation hailed for its environmentally friendly methods have stepped down and the company has cancelled plans to expand into Mexico.

Pure Lean Hogs Inc. (PYG-TSX) of Medicine Hat said last week that its senior executive team – including company founder and CEO Bob Notenbomer – had resigned at the behest of the board of directors.

“We were looking at different ways we can economize the company,” said Myles Warken, the former sales and marketing director who has now taken the temporary title of vice-
president of the company. “The gentlemen who were serving are ‘served out’. They’ve put in a considerable amount of time and energy, and they need a break.”

Pure Lean pioneered the use of eco-friendly hog barns in 1998 at its two operations in Bow Island and Oyen, about 300 kilometres southeast and 320 kilometres east, respectively, of Calgary. Together, the intensive farming properties can process upwards of 50,000 pigs every year using a humane hog manure management

system that cuts down on odours and water pollution.
Last year, Notenbomer won the 2002 Canadian Agri-Food Award of Excellence for his operations, and was recognized by U.S. environmental activist Robert F. Kennedy as a model of corporate and environmental responsibility for his firm’s drug-free philosophy and humane animal treatment.

But Pure Lean’s shares have taken a beating in the past year in the wake of low hog prices, and Warken says the executive realized change was in the wind.
“Looking at the growth of the company now being a
public company, there are skill sets and expertise that Bob will be the first fellow to admit he does not possess,” he said. “The board of directors recognized there had to be skill sets to address those needs.”

Warken added that, as a
former sales manager on the compost side of the company, he also doesn’t have the capacity to operate as an executive manager in a public company. “I know it comes out the back side of the pig, but what happens before then . . .” he joked, adding that a permanent
executive will be appointed in the near future. “For the sake of moving the company ahead, it was seen as a stepping stone to do this.”

In the interim, former VP of research Richard Coleman will become chief executive officer. Warken will replace former COO and VP Todd Boschee and Peter Van Montfort will replace outgoing CFO Reg Jackson. Boschee and Jackson are also co-founders of Pure Lean. All three former
executives will remain
members of the board.

The company has also axed a pending joint-venture deal with a Mexican agricultural and construction company to bring Pure Lean technology and manure composting
systems to that country. It has also cancelled any further work with two consulting firms hired by Notenbomer to develop international exposure for Pure Lean’s technology.

“At this point in time, with all the activity we have
potentially going on at home, it would be very difficult to
properly operate something in Mexico,” said Warken. “We
certainly would like to see a Pure Lean in Mexico, but we can’t do it at this point in time.

“It would be too much risk, and take away from what we have domestically.”

The company will continue to pursue potential licensing opportunities for independent operators, and Warken says Notenbomer will help promote Pure Lean barns through a marketing and training role when licensing opportunities occur.