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Manitoba NDP Call on Province to Address 'Unfair' Fertilizer Prices

The NDP's Critic for Agriculture is calling on the province's new Ag Minister, Derek Johnson, to get to straight to work with the federal government to ensure producers are paying a fair price for fertilizer.

In a news release, Diljeet Brar said producers are sounding the alarm about the rapid increase in fertilizer prices and feed shortages.

“Farming families struggled a lot in the last year as extreme drought took a toll on their crop yields,” said Brar. “For months, producers raised their concerns about the drought but the PC government was slow to act. Now producers are sounding the alarm about the rapid increase in fertilizer prices and feed shortages, but the PCs have done nothing once again. I’m calling on the new Minister of Agriculture to get to work right away with the Federal government to ensure our producers are paying a fair price.”

The National Farmer's Union has called for an investigation into fertilizer pricing, citing market monopolization as the key driver of inflated prices.

Manitoba's NDP says it believes the province has a role to play in working with the federal government to ensure a fair and competitive marketplace and support producers. The party added that on January 18th, Brar wrote a letter to the agriculture minister, encouraging him to work aggressively against anti-competitive practices in this market.

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