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From the Desk of the Executive Director
Right up front, I’d like to acknowledge the idea for this editorial was generated by the excellent work by Kelvin Heppner of the Real Ag media team around the release of the federal government’s Sustainable Agriculture Strategy over the recent holiday season. The editorial jogged something in me. For context, Kelvin’s editorial is here:
https://www.realagriculture.com/2024/01/quiet-rollout-of-sustainable-ag-strategy-report-sends-a-message/
When it comes to must-do tasks, not many put an emphasis in our tasks like a MFGA-mission-connected directive in a Minister’s mandate letter or the chance to participate in government consultation on an area of great importance to MFGA and our famer network. Both are open doors to declare our impact, support, and potential. And with all of that, further our MFGA relevance and connectivity.
As a rule, regardless of how the government may play our input back to us, MFGA takes to most every consultation opportunity offered and connected to our mission and vision with deliberate intent. And, we most certainly did that with the AAFC Sustainable Ag Strategy (SAS) Consultation call, which regardless of a somewhat low-profile report release as aptly pointed out by Kelvin, was a valuable opportunity for MFGA to engage, discuss and recommend our path of actions.
As many of you know, the majority of MFGA’s network of supporters are appropriately cast as the “early adopters” in agricultural demographics. Many in our MFGA network are practicing, engaging, learning, and interested in regenerative agriculture. We were pleased early adopters were central in the “What we Heard” of the AAFC SAS report. See below and please do visit the report linked there.
Which brings us to the mandate letters. Premier Wab Kinew –one of the first elected officials to publicly mention the potential of regenerative agriculture in the Manitoba legislature as he did when leader of the opposition – included the following passage in the mandate letter to Hon. Ron Kostyshyn, Manitoba Agriculture Minister:
Support innovation and research in the agricultural sector including opportunities to expand regenerative agriculture.
Now, we know full well that Minister Kostyshyn is a longtime farmer who knows the farming game. We also know this is his second Ag Ministerial assignment in two ruling provincial governments. We certainly aren’t going to tell Minister Kostyshyn how to farm, how to be an innovative farmer or how to govern, obviously. The Minister checks all boxes.
But, in the context of the mandate letter, what we can and will offer to the Minister is the work and insights of the MFGA producers, their soil-focused farms, six successful years of our MFGA Regen Ag conference, and a provincial and Prairie-wide network of like-minded farmers on the regen ag front to help the Minister work toward the assignment and mandate he received.
On both opportunities, our MFGA strategic approach to consultations and mandate letters are consistently messaged. That is, our MFGA-connected farms and farmers are often engaged in practices -often with regenerative ag focus- that are providing incredible benefits to society, for the most part in the absence of a system that rewards – or even actually acknowledges – our farmers for the incredible work they are doing for society on their lands.
As a result of our successful annual conference and the farmers that attend, our MFGA network of farms is growing and includes dairy, grain, potato, mixed, sheep, bison, beef and other agricultural operations all with a shared preference for practices that boost healthy soil. Increasingly, throughout all our MFGA network, healthy soil is the glue that pulls all farms together and gets them to stick; our shared water interests need to be next on that list. We are working on water too, via our MFGA Aquanty Model and Forecasting Tool.
But the gist of this piece is, thanks to government consultations and mandate letters, small, non-check-off organizations like MFGA have well-publicized, government-identified entry points to pitch, explain and trumpet core organization-led concepts and discussions around practices, programs, pilot projects around the incredible potential of actual producer-led and producer-delivered innovation.
The most positive thing – by far - is we are being asked.
Making sure our farmer-first solutions and recommendations crafted via farmer-led experiences including both good and bad results are the for-sure things we can control and provide as answers to those invitations.
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