As we continue Ag Appreciation Week at CKDM we contacted the province's ag minister and Dauphin's MLA Ron Kostyshyn.
His history as an ag producer in the Dauphin area, as well as his role in the provincial government, gives him a unique perspective on the effects of agriculture on both the local scale of Dauphin, and the larger provincial picture.
"There's no better place than the Dauphin constituency, where the value of agriculture is an important component as far as economic growth. It continues to grow."
As part of his time in office, Minister Kostyshyn is looking forward to expanding the scale of the ag sector by developing more processing businesses to complement the wealth of producers we already have.
"We live in an opportune time in our province of Manitoba to start to develop added value opportunities. we know we have a number of commodities that we are going to be focusing on so we can have secondary industries start-up in our geographic area that provides additional employment and economic spin-off to all geographic areas in the province of Manitoba"
Kostyshyn wanted to recognize a sector that's often overlooked when people think of the agricultural landscape, even though it drives both food and tourism.
"The commercial fishing industry is a key component in our geographic area as well that provides food to different marketplaces throughout the world. Freshwater Fisheries is one of the great wholesalers of finished products. We know that producers, commercial fishers in Winnipegosis and Lake Manitoba add to that economic spin-off as well"
With the massive amount of tourism that the fishing drives in the province, this sector drives a lot of industries that aren't usually thought of in the conversation of Agriculture.
At the end of the conversation, Minister Kostyshyn wanted to send his message of appreciation out to all the hard-working individuals who keep the cogs turning in the Agricultural sector.
"I want to thank everyone directly and indirectly involved in the Agriculture industry. We thank you for your hard work and the challenging times you face. Sometimes we wonder if it is all worth it, but at the end of the day it's for the love of the occupation that continues to make you do what you choose to do, and I can't say it any better thank you for all the hard work you do."
And as always, CKDM has that same level of appreciation for all of the workers of the agricultural world, and we'll continue to highlight its importance through Ag Appreciation Week!
