PC Caucus Urges NDP to Take Immediate Action to Support Drought-Stricken Interlake Producers
RM OF ARMSTRONG — With drought conditions worsening across Manitoba, the Progressive Conservative Caucus is calling on the NDP government to take swift action to support agricultural producers, particularly in the hard-hit Interlake region.
PC Deputy Leader and Agriculture Critic Jeff Bereza is urging the NDP government to work with the Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporation (MASC) to deliver targeted drought support programs to cattle and forage producers facing rising feed costs and dwindling local supply.
“Producers in the Interlake are sounding the alarm. There simply won’t be enough feed to get through winter,” said Bereza. “The Kinew government needs to act now. Work with MASC, deliver feed assistance and freight support, and help our producers offset the skyrocketing costs of sourcing feed from other regions. These are tools the NDP already have—they just need to use them. Right now, producers are seeing inaction.”
Bereza, who is the MLA for Portage la Prairie, also noted that local governments are increasingly raising red flags as the crisis deepens.
“We’ve already seen the RMs of Armstrong, Coldwell, St. Laurent, and Woodlands declare agricultural states of emergency, and others may need to do the same,” Bereza said. “That should be a wake-up call to the NDP that the situation is deteriorating rapidly.”
Manitoba’s Interlake region continues to face some of the worst drought impacts, with historically low forage yields and deteriorating pasture conditions.
Lakeside MLA Trevor King stressed the unpredictable nature of the drought.
“Some areas of the Interlake have received as little as 25% of their normal rainfall,” said King. “The weather here is incredibly variable—a few kilometres can mean the difference between a salvageable pasture and a complete crop failure. That’s why region-specific supports are critical.”
Interlake-Gimli MLA Derek Johnson, who previously served as Minister of Agriculture, said that the path forward is already well established.
“During the 2021 drought, our PC government moved quickly to support producers through MASC, with feed and transportation supports and AgriRecovery programs,” said Johnson. “We’re hoping that the NDP act just as urgently. Delays could force producers to sell herds that they’ve spent generations building.”
“This is a solvable problem,” added Bereza. “The NDP just need to listen to producers and take action, because rising production costs on the farm don’t stop at the farm gate. They show up in the grocery stores too.”
“Families across Manitoba are already paying more at the checkout. Supporting producers now means protecting food affordability down the road.”
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