Stefanson, who replaced Brian Pallister as premier in November, on Tuesday named Interlake-Gimli MLA Derek Johnson as minister of agriculture, replacing Lakeside MLA Ralph Eichler, who has been dropped from cabinet.

The move also sees the provincial ministry of agriculture and resource development split back into separate files, as former finance minister Scott Fielding, MLA for the Winnipeg riding of Kirkfield Park, becomes minister of natural resources and northern development. The agriculture and resource development files had been merged into one ministry in 2019 under then-minister Blaine Pedersen.

Johnson, a bank branch manager before entering provincial politics, first came to the legislature in 2016, was re-elected in 2019 and was named Pallister’s municipal relations minister in January last year. He also served as a councilor in the R.M. of St. Laurent from 2010 to 2014.

“I look forward to continuing to assist our producers as we move forward from last year’s drought, and support strong agriculture production in Manitoba,” Johnson said in a separate statement Tuesday.

Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP) president Bill Campbell, in a separate release Tuesday, said Johnson “understands the challenges facing Manitoba’s agricultural industry and we look forward to working with him.”

KAP, he said, has also “valued Minister Eichler’s desire to grow the industry through his various roles in public office and wish him the best.”

Eileen Clarke, MLA for the Neepawa-area riding of Agassiz, returns to the municipal relations file, “a position she held previously and in which she was well respected among her colleagues across all levels of government,” Stefanson said in a release Tuesday. Clarke was Pallister’s minister for Indigenous and northern relations before quitting his cabinet last July.

Stefanson, in announcing the shuffle and reorganization, said “the most pressing issues facing Manitoba and Manitobans will be viewed through a whole-of-government approach including the COVID-19 response and recovery, climate change and mitigation, and reconciliation.”

Among other files of interest to farmers, Turtle Mountain MLA Doyle Piwniuk joins cabinet as minister of transportation and infrastructure; Spruce Woods MLA Cliff Cullen becomes deputy premier and minister for economic development, investment and trade; and Jeff Wharton, the MLA for Red River North, becomes minister for environment, climate and parks. — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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Premier Brian Pallister has named Ralph Eichler, MLA for the Interlake-area riding of Lakeside since 2003, as minister of agriculture and resource development, replacing Blaine Pedersen.

Pedersen announced Thursday he will not seek re-election but will serve out his term as MLA for the Carman-area riding of Midland. Manitoba’s next provincial election is set for Oct. 3, 2023 at the latest.

Eichler was ag minister from 2016 until 2019, when Pedersen, who’d previously served as minister for infrastructure and later for growth, enterprise and trade, replaced him in an earlier shuffle. The ag department was recast as agriculture and resource development, and Eichler moved to the economic development file.

Thursday’s mini-shuffle also sees Jon Reyes, MLA for the south Winnipeg riding of Waverley, replace Eichler on economic development.

Veterinarian Dr. Alan Lagimodiere, the MLA for Selkirk, becomes minister for Indigenous reconciliation and northern relations, replacing Agassiz MLA Eileen Clarke in what was until now Indigenous and northern relations.

In the Lakeside riding, Eichler, 71, represents several communities and RMs to the north and west of Winnipeg including Teulon, Stonewall and Elie.

He raised cattle and operated Prairie Farm and Ranch Supply and Ray’s Auction Services before entering politics, where he served eight years as the Tories’ ag critic on the opposition benches.

Pallister, in a release Thursday, said Eichler’s mandate as ag minister will be “to further strengthen growth in these critical sectors of the province’s economy and community life.”

An “immediate priority,” Pallister added, “will be to develop drought relief support for hard-hit farmers and ranchers.”

As of Tuesday, two Interlake-area rural municipalities, Armstrong and St. Laurent, had declared states of agricultural disaster due to lack of rainfall and to insect problems.

“Topsoil moisture continues to decline and crop, hay and pasture conditions continue to deteriorate,” the provincial ag department reported Tuesday. “Many crops are maturing faster than normal and grain and pod filling in cereals, canola and peas will be affected by heat and lack of moisture this week.”

Also, the province said, grasshopper feeding is increasingly widespread and spraying for control is underway “in all regions, primarily on hay, pasture and cereal crops, as well as roadside ditches.”

The federal Conservatives, among others, have already put in requests to federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau for all of Manitoba, as well as Alberta and Saskatchewan, to be designated for drought-related tax deferrals on breeding livestock sales.

Bill Campbell, president of Manitoba farm group Keystone Agricultural Producers, congratulated Eichler on his re-appointment and the group “look(s) forward to working with him to grow Manitoba’s agricultural industry.”

Campbell on Thursday also acknowledged Pedersen’s stint on the ag file, adding that “as a producer and advocate, MLA and cabinet minister, we have appreciated Minister Pedersen’s passion and engagement and wish him the best.” –– Glacier FarmMedia Network

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Premier Brian Pallister on Wednesday announced a reorganization of his government’s ministries along with a shuffle of his cabinet in the wake of his Progressive Conservative government’s re-election last month.

The realignment sees the agriculture ministry become part of a new department, agriculture and resource development, which was described Wednesday as “an expanded department focused on agriculture and natural resources, including watershed districts, GROW programming, forestry, mining, fish and wildlife management.”

Apart from agriculture, the new ministry picks up responsibilities handled until now by the previous department of sustainable development and department of growth, enterprise and trade. The latter department’s minister, Midland MLA Blaine Pedersen, was named Wednesday to lead the new department.

Pedersen hails from Elm Creek and worked over 30 years in the cattle feeding business before becoming the MLA for what was then the Carman constituency in 2007.

He served as the Tories’ opposition critic for agriculture, food and rural initiatives from 2011 until the party returned to power in 2016; he then served as minister for infrastructure from 2016 into 2017, when he was named to handle the growth, enterprise and trade file.

As agriculture minister, Pedersen replaces Lakeside MLA Ralph Eichler, who’d held the post since 2016 and was shuffled Wednesday to lead another newly formed department, economic development and training.

The “GROW programming” now listed among Pedersen’s responsibilities refers to the $52 million Growing Outcomes in Watersheds trust.

The trust, which until now was a responsibility of the sustainable development department, was set up in June to back programming for the protection of wetlands and watershed management.

Pallister on Tuesday separately announced new GROW trust funding for three separate programs. The Seine-Rat River Conservation District and Little Saskatchewan River Conservation District each receive $250,000 to expand their ALUS Canada ecological goods and services programs, while up to $1 million goes to the TransCanada Shelterbelt Renewal Project.

Among other provincial portfolios of interest to farmers, Fort Richmond MLA Sarah Guillemard was named Wednesday as minister for conservation and climate, while Riel MLA Rochelle Squires, the former sustainable development minister, will now handle the municipal relations file.

The reorganization, Pallister said Wednesday, will “create areas of focus consistent with our priorities and our vision to move Manitoba forward.” — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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Ralph Eichler, the Tories’ ag minister since 2016 and the MLA for the Interlake-area constituency of Lakeside since 2003, defeated New Democrat challenger Dan Rugg of Elie on Tuesday night by a spread of 4,340 votes.

Eichler had stints as a purebred Simmental and commercial cattle producer, as owner and operator of Prairie Farm and Ranch Supply and Teulon auction company Ray’s Auction Service, and as an administrator for the Interlake School Division before entering provincial politics.

Premier Brian Pallister’s Tories were elected or leading in 36 of 57 constituencies on Tuesday night, while the opposition New Democrats under leader Wab Kinew lifted their bench strength to 18 MLAs. Dougald Lamont’s Liberals fell just short of official party status, winning in three ridings.

Ted Marcelino, the opposition critic for housing and, since March, for agriculture, was the lone casualty Tuesday night among NDP incumbents seeking re-election.

Electoral boundaries redrawn last year left Marcelino facing another incumbent MLA, the Liberals’ Cindy Lamoureux, on Tuesday. Lamoureux won the northwest Winnipeg riding, Tyndall Park, by a spread of over 1,800 votes.

But when the legislature reconvenes, the expanded NDP caucus will include a few rookie MLAs with experience in agriculture and/or agribusiness on their resumes. Among those:

• Diljeet Brar, MLA-elect for the northwestern Winnipeg riding of Burrows, has worked as an extension co-ordinator for the provincial agriculture department in Arborg and as a field crop research assistant for Ag Quest at Minto. He also served as an assistant professor at India’s Punjab Agricultural University.
• Jamie Moses, who on Tuesday unseated one of Pallister’s cabinet ministers, Colleen Mayer, in the south Winnipeg riding of St. Vital, has a degree in agribusiness from the University of Manitoba and a resume including a four-year stint at the Canadian Wheat Board.
• Malaya Marcelino, MLA-elect for the central Winnipeg riding of Notre Dame, is the daughter of former Winnipeg MLA Flor Marcelino. According to the NDP, the younger Marcelino today works in communications support for a “Manitoba-based agribusiness firm.”

— Glacier FarmMedia Network

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“Manitoba is home to many budding entrepreneurs with a passion for food and drink and the skill to create innovative and delicious new products,” said Eichler in a release.

“The Great Manitoba Food Fight is a fun and exciting way to find a new group of talented Manitobans who are ready to take the next step and turn their culinary creations into a possible career and a profitable food or drink-based business.”

GMFF is sponsored by the Manitoba government, in partnership with De Luca’s Specialty Foods Store and Food and Beverage Manitoba. This year’s event features a new alcoholic beverage category, in support of the growing craft beer and spirits industry in Manitoba, the minister noted.

The competition provides entrepreneurs with an opportunity to fast track their products to commercialization by competing for product development and service awards. In addition to pitching their product to a panel of judges, participants must submit an application form that outlines how they would commercialize their new product.

Ten applicants will be selected to compete in the food portion of the competition and three will be selected for the new pub competition. Judges will select gold, silver and bronze winners in the food category, with prize money ranging from $3,500 to $13,000. A single winner will be selected in the craft beer and spirits category, with a $5,000 prize.

The competition will be held on Sept. 20 at De Luca’s, 950 Portage Ave., in Winnipeg. The entry fee is $50 and the application deadline is Aug. 4. Applications not accepted will have their entry fee returned.

To apply for the Great Manitoba Food Fight or for more information, visit www.gmff.ca or call 204-841-4084.

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The announcement was made Monday at the plant by federal Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay and Manitoba Agriculture Minister Ralph Eichler.

A release said Maple Leaf Food’s investment in the bacon line expansion project is valued at more than $5.9 million and is expected to be complete later this year. The expansion is expected to create 34 new permanent, full-time jobs as well as 34 part-time jobs and is part of a larger $35-million expansion of the plant.

“Part of the federal government’s plan to support the agriculture sector is to be a leader in job creation and innovation,” MacAulay said in the release. I am pleased to announce this strategic investment that will mean more top-quality Canadian bacon in grocery aisles in Canada and across the world.”

“The expansion reflects our shared commitment to producing high-quality food for the world in a safe and sustainable way,” Eichler said. “It also reinforces Manitoba’s place as an important centre for food processing in Canada.”

The ministers said this expansion will help increase exports of Canadian pork to highly valuable international markets.

“Maple Leaf has invested more than $1 billion across Canada to build a highly competitive, sustainable, Canadian-headquartered company,” said Rory McAlpine, senior vice-president, government and industry relations, Maple Leaf Foods.

“We appreciate the support from the Canadian and Manitoba governments, which played a direct role in helping our company create and sustain high-skilled jobs here in Manitoba and value-added export opportunities globally.”

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Ralph Eichler, the MLA for the Interlake-area constituency of Lakeside since 2003, was sworn in Tuesday along with Premier Brian Pallister and 11 other cabinet ministers at Winnipeg’s Canadian Museum for Human Rights, by Lt.-Gov. Janice Filmon.

Eichler, 66, served two stints as ag critic during the Tories’ time in opposition, and in several other critic portfolios, most recently handling the municipal government and Manitoba Hydro files.

Previously a cattle producer, raising purebred Simmentals and a commercial herd, Eichler also served as an administrator for the Interlake School Division for eight years before entering politics.

His resume also includes a stint as owner and operator of Prairie Farm and Ranch Supply, a livestock handling equipment manufacturer and dealership, and of Teulon auction company Ray’s Auction Service, founded by his late father Raymond.

During his time in the livestock equipment business, Eichler served on the board of the Prairie Implement Manufacturers Association and helped launch the marketing of the VanderBuilt Stock Doctor, a medication injection tool for livestock.

As an MLA, Eichler has also served as a director on the State Agriculture Rural Leaders Board, a provincial, state and federal legislators’ group with members from Canada, the U.S. and Mexico, which helps develop agriculture policies and exchange best practices.

Eichler won re-election in both 2007 and 2011, and in the April 19 election, he defeated NDP challenger Matt Austman, a Winnipeg communications specialist, by a decisive spread of 4,708 votes.

The Tories’ incumbent ag critic, Midlands MLA Blaine Pedersen, also joins Pallister’s cabinet as minister of infrastructure. Ian Wishart, the MLA for Portage la Prairie and a former president of Keystone Agricultural Producers, is minister of education and training.

Pallister noted in a release Tuesday that his cabinet is reduced in size by a third from its predecessor.

“Our team’s plan for a better Manitoba with lower taxes, better services and a stronger economy was overwhelmingly endorsed by Manitobans,” he said in a release. “We know the job ahead of us will not be easy, but this is the right team to get Manitoba back on track.” — AGCanada.com Network

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