Manitoba’s Agriculture Minister says Manitoba is well positioned to become North America’s protein supplier of choice.
On February 1st the Manitoba Government launched public consultations for a first of its kind Sustainable Protein Strategy.
Manitoba Agriculture Minister Ralph Eichler told those on hand yesterday for the 2019 Manitoba Swine Seminar the province is well positioned to take protein development to the next level.
First off you look at companies like Maple Leaf, HyLife and others that are processing just in the swine field, you look at verified beef programs for our beef producers, critically important for the traceability and to be sure we have good reliable and traceable, where these animals were raised, where they were processed and those types of things.
The sheep business in Manitoba has expanded beyond my wildest dreams. It’s really moving fast. The plant protein, we’ve had a number of investments there. Companies like Roquette and now with the new Richardson’s Scientific Centre that they’re building for the discovery of new products, it gives us the opportunity to work with them. Of course having a home based Cigi right here in Winnipeg is a large part of that as well so we’ve set the stage quite well for being able to explore and expand where we currently are and to help us get down that protein highway.
Having said that, personally as a Minister I’ve had over 50 emails or letters since announcing that at Ag Days so I would say the general public is really interested in what role they can play, how they can be a part of what this looks like to grow our protein strategy. Then, come September, we want to be able to announce those results at our protein conference. We’re quite excited. We’re wanting to hear from Manitobans on how we might want to get there and what’s going to be best for Manitobans.
~ Ralph Eichler, Agriculture Minister Manitoba
For more information or to provide input visit gov.mb.ca.
