KAP Welcomes Proposed Changes To Trespassing Legislation

The president of Keystone Ag Producers (KAP) feels proposed legislative changes address landowners' concerns about trespassers on private property.

 

KAP has long lobbied the provincial government for stronger legislation with tougher penalties to deter rural crime and trespassing.

 

The Manitoba Government is looking to amend the Petty Trespasses Act, the Occupiers Liability Act and the Animal Diseases Act. Read more: New Legislation To Help Prevent Trespassing On Private Property

 

Bill Campbell says the growing trend of rural crime and trespassing on farmyards and livestock operations is alarming and intimidating for farmers.

 

"There are concerns with regards to some of the bio-security and animal welfare and insurance that the products we deliver are safe," said Campbell. "Producers actually go to high standars to ensure the food products that they raise are safe for human consumption, and when we get in to trespassing we're not sure that the safety issues have not been compromised."

 

As Campbell understands it, previous rules under the Petty Tresspasses Act wouldn't allow for such cases to be prosecuted unless the tresspasser was confronted, and he feels that isn't a safe way for society to exist.

 

"We have heard numerous incidents of rural crime on the increase, and there's a real safety and fear factor happening in rural Manitoba when you see people enter your property," he explained. "We are not trained to deal with these confrontations and you never know what type of emotional or mental state that people are under, and so we need to have stronger law enforcement with regards to rural crime."

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.