Agriculture

The Green Party of Manitoba defines agricultural success by measuring the well-being of farms, the farmers that own them, and the communities in which they belong. Our long term vision for rural Manitoba is for more small-scale farms to provide Manitobans with quality foods and other products using sustainable and regenerative practices, and for these farms to be supported by the communities that surround them. 

Greens want to work towards a food system that puts farmers’ well-being first, while providing good jobs and improving the air, water, and soil for future generations. Greens do not believe that Manitobans must choose between protecting the environment or protecting industry. With the use of sustainable and regenerative practices, we can build strong and vibrant farming communities that work together to improve our environment and create resilient, local food systems.

To ensure that our farmers and our agriculture sector have a bright future, the Green Party of Manitoba will:

Provide support to new farmers
  • Direct government assistance toward new, smaller farms, ending the practice of giving big grants to already established profitable farms
  • Create a land bank to provide retiring farmers with new succession opportunities, and help make land available and affordable to new farmers
Reduce the financial burden of all farmers
  • Review Manitoba’s farm land ownership laws to discourage land price speculation by non-farming shareholders, pension plans and foreign corporations
  • End farmland school taxation
  • Support the rights of farmers to save their own seeds
Increase financial opportunities for farmers
  • Diversify market opportunities to help stabilize and balance agricultural commodity markets, reducing Manitoba’s dependence on exports to the US and China
  • Work to open new provincial, regional and local market opportunities and new international markets which appreciate Manitoba quality
  • Direct government procurement toward ‘Buy Manitoba’
Work with farmers to move away from greenhouse gas intensive agricultural practices
  • Encourage the use of regenerative farming practices to reduce greenhouse gases, increase plant growth, and increase species diversity on pastures
  • Provide transition programs to support farmers who wish to transition to organic and/or regenerative food production
  • Encourage and support the transition to energy independence on farms
  • Encourage clean energy production on farms, such as solar, wind, geothermal, small scale hydro energy, and energy storage capacity installations