KAP Responds To Manitoba Rural Service Delivery Model

Jan 12, 2021

The following statement is attributable to Bill Campbell, president of Keystone Agricultural Producers.

“The ability to access quality services, reliable information, and speak with specialists is essential to the strength of Manitoba’s agriculture sector. Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP) acknowledges the efforts of Manitoba Agriculture and Resource Development and Manitoba Agricultural Service Corporation (MASC) to provide enhanced services to producers in Manitoba.

While producers welcome the option to access forms, applications, and information online, the opportunity to speak face-to-face with specialists is essential. This will be more challenging for many producers, particularly in Western Manitoba.

Though we are assured that these measures will not impact staffing levels, our members are concerned about ongoing access to staff and have noted this issue for some time. Furthermore, the loss of rental revenue for rural business owners represents yet another challenge for many communities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

We encourage the provincial government to release more information about how the rural service delivery model will impact the quality of services provided, along with its plan to introduce additional online tools and improve rural connectivity. KAP welcomes the opportunity to participate in consultations regarding these tools because producers must continue to have access to the services, information, and specialists they require.”

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Video: Learning to Wrench From Dad the Hard Way

Harvest is a week out and the farm picked this week to fall apart. The truck needs a battery, the barn curtain's got a problem, and the corn and beans are telling us we're out of time to get it all fixed.

So it's a full day of wrenching. Tork supervises while I get the truck back running, then we're out at the hog barn where one rusted up part has the whole curtain system hung up. Ladder work, cable work, and a little dad-and-son disagreement about the right way to do it. We close it out walking the fields, shelling beans and checking corn, because whether everything's fixed or not, harvest starts when harvest starts.

Chapters: 00:00 Everything breaks the week before harvest 01:00 Tork supervises while I fix the truck 12:30 Out to the barn to find the curtain problem 14:30 One rusty part hung up the whole curtain 20:00 Running the curtain cable from the ladder 24:00 Walking the beans and corn before harvest 26:30 Wrapping up

We're a 6th generation family farm in southeast Iowa showing the real ups and downs of pig farming and row crop farming. No script, just the work. Subscribe and follow along.

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