Agriculture Minister visits Manitoba Royal Winter Fair

Apr 02, 2024

Agriculture Minister Ron Kostyshyn spent some time at the Manitoba Royal Winter Fair in Brandon this week.

Today, the Province and the Federal Government announced $20,000 in financial support for the event through the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership.

The funding to the Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba is for a one-year sponsorship of the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair.

The sponsorship supports agriculture as the backbone of the provincial economy as a leader in innovation, research and job creation.

Agriculture Minister Ron Kostyshyn says the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair has a rich history and showcases agriculture in our province.

"You know, there's a number of benefits of the Royal Winter Fair, no doubt about it. I think first and foremost, it's an opportunity of an educational process for the families or the general public that has not much interaction with the agriculture industry."

He says it's an opportunity for those families to be hands-on and see it, and an opportunity for education on what's being done in agriculture and the great things that are coming forward.

Kostyshyn says the government is pleased to support the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair’s Manitoba Cup Equestrian Event and participate in a week that features Manitoba’s thriving agricultural sector and brings Manitobans together to enjoy a fun-filled event.

The Winter Fair showcases the Manitoba Cup - the province's premier horse jumping event - as well as livestock shows and sales, more than 300 commercial and agricultural exhibits, the Royal Farm Yard and more.

Earlier in the week Minister Kostyshyn announced the continued funding for the Manitoba 4-H Council.

In 2022, the Province announced it would be providing $900,000 over three years to the Manitoba 4-H Council to deliver programming across the province to over 100 4-H clubs and for more than 1,000 members.

Kostyshyn says the 4-H program has a long history in Manitoba of working with rural youth to help develop leadership, self-confidence, communication and many other practical skills.

"Our government appreciates the volunteers who dedicate their time to helping guide young Manitobans and build communities."

Shannon Carvey, executive director of Manitoba 4-H Council Inc. says they appreciate the support.

"The funding from the Manitoba government allows us to provide quality programming for our members, leaders and volunteers at regional and provincial events."

4-H was founded in Roland, Manitoba in 1913 and has been supported by the Manitoba government since the early 1920s.

Source : Pembinavalley online

Video: Spring 2026 weather outlook for Wisconsin; What an early-arriving El Niño could mean

Northeast Wisconsin is a small corner of the world, but our weather is still affected by what happens across the globe.

That includes in the equatorial Pacific, where changes between El Niño and La Niña play a role in the weather here -- and boy, have there been some abrupt changes as of late.

El Niño and La Niña are the two phases of what is collectively known as the El Niño Southern Oscillation, or ENSO for short. These are the swings back and forth from unusually warm to unusually cold sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean along the equator.

Since this past September, we have been in a weak La Niña, which means water temperatures near the Eastern Pacific equator have been cooler than usual. That's where we're at right now.

Even last fall, the long-term outlook suggested a return to neutral conditions by spring and potentially El Niño conditions by summer.

But there are some signs this may be happening faster than usual, which could accelerate the onset of El Niño.

Over the last few weeks, unusually strong bursts of westerly winds farther west in the Pacific -- where sea surface temperatures are warmer than average -- have been observed. There is a chance that this could accelerate the warming of those eastern Pacific waters and potentially push us into El Niño sooner than usual.

If we do enter El Nino by spring -- which we'll define as the period of March, April and May -- there are some long-term correlations with our weather here in Northeast Wisconsin.

Looking at a map of anomalously warm weather, most of the upper Great Lakes doesn't show a strong correlation, but in general, the northern tiers of the United States do tend to lean to that direction.

The stronger correlation is with precipitation. El Niño conditions in spring have historically come with a higher risk of very dry weather over that time frame, so this will definitely be a transition we'll have to watch closely as we move out of winter.