WINNIPEG – Manitoba’s general farm lobby group is looking for greener pastures in 1995. Green as in greenbacks and greener farming practices.
Value added and sustainable development sounded like the official buzzwords at the annual meeting of Keystone Agricultural Producers held here last week. That’s likely because these two catch-phrases relate to many crucial issues farmers will face in the coming year.
Changes to the Western Grain Transportation Act appeared to be foremost on the minds of many of the farmers. When the subsidy is removed from freight rates Aug. 1, they may have more challenges than Saskatchewan and Alberta farmers, who are closer to seaports.
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“That’s what’s really going to affect our incomes in years to come,” says Brad Mroz, a grains and oilseeds farmer from Beausejour.
However, since the meeting was held, Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba agriculture ministers agreed to link the issue of St. Lawrence Seaway transportation costs, which would have cost Manitoba farmers millions more if the present pooling system was changed, to talks on changes to the Western Grain Transportation Act.
Discussion at the three-day meeting often turned to current image problems faced by Manitoba hog producers. The provincial government is challenging the industry to double in size because of the burgeoning export market and as a way to create jobs in rural areas.
But municipalities across the province are rejecting conditional use permits for hog barns because of pressure from non-farming environmental interests.
Develop educational material
Delegates voted to support Manitoba Pork Est. and the provincial government in developing educational material that will help concerned neighbors understand how modern operations are constructed and managed.
Marg Rempel, a pork producer from Ste. Anne, said it’s not so much a matter of farmers needing to clean up their act, but a matter of sprucing up their image.
“We’ve been very busy with trying to survive financially and maybe as a industry sector haven’t paid that much attention to the amount of public relations that we need to do,” she said.
Other KAP resolutions dealing with environmental issues:
- Helping design standards for transporting and storing pesticides.
- Making sure the Sustainable Development Act currently in Manitoba’s legislature meets agriculture’s needs.
- Lobbying the federal government for sustainable development legislation.
