The countdown is on as voters get set to go to the polls in the provincial election on October 3rd.
Cam Dahl, the general manager of Manitoba Pork says its important for producers to meet with all their candidates no matter their political stripe and talk about the importance of agriculture.
"Modern agriculture has a very good story to tell, but it's not often understood. That misunderstanding can lead to due to regulations and legislation that don't always match reality. So ensuring that candidates understand agriculture, and understand the contribution that our industry makes to the provinces is very important. The best people to tell that story are farmers. "
He notes its important that all candidates recognize the large contribution that we (the pork industry) make to Manitoba, and it needs to be heard by all the parties that are running in this provincial election.
" It contributes over 22,000 jobs to to Manitoba. Those jobs aren't just in rural areas you know. There's over 2500 people that work at the corner of Marion and Lagimodiere in Winnipeg. The plant in Brandon, and Neepawa is a community that is growing and thriving because of the pork sector. So you know, 22,000 jobs is a significant number and over $2 billion annually to the provinces gross domestic product.
That's three and a half percent of Manitoba's GDP is driven by the pork sector. It's one of the most important economic drivers to this to the province."
Dahl says we shouldn't assume that candidates (even in rural constituencies) understand the importance of agriculture.
Source : Penbinavalley online