Officials with Manitoba Beef Producers (MBP) say they were pleased with this week's Throne Speech, noting that a handful of positive developments emerged from the provincial government.

The speech touched on a number of topics of importance to the provincial beef industry such as the Manitoba Beef & Forage Initiatives, the forthcoming Canadian Agricultural Partnership (CAP), biosecurity and modernizing Crown lands policies.

“It is encouraging to have a provincial government that sees agriculture as a priority,” said MBP President Ben Fox. “The Canadian Agricultural Partnership is greatly anticipated by the industry and we are happy to learn the government plans to invest CAP dollars in capturing emerging market opportunities. As we work towards growing our Manitoba beef industry capturing new markets will be critical. The government’s desire to improve environmental outcomes is certainly in step with the current focus of the beef industry and we welcome further investment through CAP.

The recently announced Climate and Green Plan was also mentioned and Manitoba Beef Producers says it will continue to monitor developments around the plan to ensure the needs and concerns of the beef industry are front of mind.

“This is an important time for the provincial beef industry as there are a number of matters to deal with as we work to grow our industry and that was reflected in the Throne Speech. We will continue to lobby the government to see that needs of our members are met,” said Fox.