Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP) president Dan Mazier says Manitoba has been excluded from a House of Commons Agriculture Committee tour to consult farmers on the next agricultural policy framework (known as Growing Forward 3).

The current funding framework, Growing Forward 2, expires in 2018.

“We understand that committee members were originally scheduled to visit us, but plans have changed – and Manitoba will no longer be included,” said Mazier. “This is very disappointing because these consultations are extremely important, and the views of individual Manitoba farmers should be heard.

“Manitoba is one of the country’s major agricultural areas with 15,000 farms and a primary production output of 12 per cent of the Canadian total. These are not insignificant numbers – and I urge members of the Agriculture Committee to include us in the November tour.”

Mazier said Growing Forward 3 will be responsible for distributing approximately $3 billion of government funding over five years.

KAP will be writing a letter to the chair of the House of Commons Agriculture Committee in hopes that they will add Manitoba back to the tour. The western leg of the tour will include British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan (which was originally left out, but now replaces Manitoba).

The agribusiness industry in Manitoba recently earned revenues of $10.7 billion, while the Conference Board of Canada predicts a 5.7 per cent increase in provincial agricultural activities in 2016.