Displaying Man. farm stories

Feb 24, 2020

The Manitoba Agricultural Museum is creating an exhibition called Farmers of Manitoba

By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com

A Manitoba museum is calling on the province’s ag community to submit items for a special exhibit.

Until April 15, the Manitoba Agricultural Museum is accepting portraits and stories from farmers that will be used to create the Farmers of Manitoba display.

Producers can submit photos and stories about themselves, a friend, an ancestor or the next generation of Manitoba farmers.

The museum will keep the submissions and add them to its permanent collection to help tell the story of Manitoba agriculture.

“We want to feature farmers themselves and their voices,” Anaïs Biernat, the museum’s executive director and curator, told Farms.com.

The Farmers of Manitoba exhibit will be part of the Manitoba 150 celebrations to honour the province’s 150th anniversary throughout 2020.

Agriculture is an important part of the province’s history and identity.

In 1812, for example, the Selkirk Settlers, also known as the Red River Settlers, were Manitoba’s first recorded agricultural immigrants when they settled near what’s now downtown Winnipeg.

And in August 2018, farmers operated 303 combines for five consecutive minutes to set a new Guinness world record and raise money for Children’s Camps International.

Showcasing the past, present and future of agriculture is important for the community, Biernat said.

“We feel that we have a role to play in representing today’s farmers as well as their parents, grandparents or other family members,” she said. “This helps our local communities, but also our urban ones and people who may not speak to farmers on a daily basis.”

Anyone interested in submitting a portrait and a story for the exhibit can contact the museum at 204-637-2354.

The Farmers of Manitoba exhibit is scheduled to open May 16.

A full list of Manitoba 150 programs and celebrations can be found on the organizing committee’s website.

Video: The Investment Opportunities of Industrial Hemp

The fledgling U.S. hemp industry is decades behind countries like Canada, France and China, but according to impact investor and this week’s podcast guest, Pierre Berard, it could flourish into a $2.2 billion industry by 2030 and create thousands of jobs.

To reach its potential, what the hemp industry needs most right now, Berard said, is capital investment.

Last month, Berard published a report titled “Seeing the U.S. Industrial Hemp Opportunity — A Pioneering Venture for Investors and Corporations Driven by Environmental, Social and Financial Concerns” in which he lays out the case for investment.

It’s as if Berard, with this report, is waving a giant flag, trying to attract the eyes of investors, saying, “Look over here. Look at all this opportunity.”

Berard likens the burgeoning American hemp industry to a developing country.

“There is no capital. People don’t want to finance. This is too risky. And I was like, OK, this sounds like something for me,” he said.

As an impact investor who manages funds specializing in agro-processing companies, Berard now has his sights set on the U.S. hemp industry, which he believes has great economic value as well as social and environmental benefits.

He spent many years developing investment in the agriculture infrastructure of developing countries in Latin America and Africa, and said the hemp industry feels similar.

“It is very nascent and it is a very fragmented sector. You have pioneers and trailblazers inventing or reinventing the field after 80 years of prohibition,” he said. “So I feel very familiar with this context.”

On this week’s hemp podcast, Berard talks about the report and the opportunities available to investors in the feed, fiber and food sectors of the hemp industry.

Building an industry around an agricultural commodity takes time, he said. According to the report, “The soybean industry took about 50 years to become firmly established, from the first USDA imports in 1898 to the U.S. being the top worldwide producer in the 1950s.”

Berard has a plan to accelerate the growth of the hemp industry and sees a four-pillar approach to attract investment.

First, he said, the foundation of the industry is the relationship between farmers and processors at the local level.

Second, he said the industry needs what he calls a “federating body” that will represent it, foster markets and innovations, and reduce risk for its members and investors.

The third pillar is “collaboration with corporations that aim to secure or diversify their supply chains with sustainable products and enhance their ESG credentials. This will be key to funding the industry and creating markets,” he said.

The fourth pillar is investment. Lots of it. Over $1.6 billion over seven years. This money will come from government, corporations, individual investors, and philanthropic donors.

The 75-page report goes into detail about the hemp industry, its environmental and social impact, and the opportunities available to investors.

Read the report here: Seeing the U.S. Industrial Hemp Opportunity

Also on this episode, we check in with hemp and bison farmer Herb Grove from Brush Mountain Bison in Centre County, PA, where he grew 50 acres of hemp grain. We’ll hear about harvest and dry down and crushing the seed for oil and cake.