Keystone Agriculture Producers President, Dan Mazier, has returned from the east coast where Canada's ag leaders continued discussions on the follow up to Growing Forward 2. Canadian Federation of Agriculture hosted the pre-meeting in Newfoundland - a lead-up to the federal, provincial and territorial ag ministers annual summer gathering.
Mazier says there was a good cross-section of representation around the table of not only agriculture commodity organizations and Department of Agriculture staff, but also research institutions like University of Manitoba and Red River College.
"It was a very good informative morning and it really did demonstrate what all is considered when we're developing these policies, especially a complex policy like the next ag policy framework for the next five years. There's things being put in place right now that'll impact us five years down the way."
Overall, Mazier is pleased with the level of engagement from the Manitoba government throughout this process and says this has put the province and its producers in a good position as far as negotiating the next agreement.
"I was quite impressed this winter that the department and had consultation processes with all the organizations, as far as I know, and anyone else that wanted to participate in these conversations with the Minister (of Agriculture)..."
Source : Portageonline