Fibre industry flexes muscles in Manitoba
thecarillon.com
OCTOBER 9, 2025
MATTHEW FRANK THE CARILLON Anna Hunter shakes a wool fleece while she cleans it.
FEATURE STORY Fibre industry flexes muscles in Manitoba See story on page 2
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MATTHEW FRANK THE CARILLON
Bundles of wool waiting to be sold at Christel Lanthier’s vendor stall.
Fibre industry flexes muscles in Manitoba
by MATTHEW FRANK F or Remko Stalman, sheep shearing is more than cutting wool. It’s all about the tech- nique. As he grabs a sheep with a coat ready to be cut, it squirms, kicking its legs to break free. But with each buzzing pass of the shears, Stalman shifts his feet, the sheep settles and quiets. The whole process takes only three minutes to get a complete wool fleece. “I don’t look at a shearer anymore to see how he’s shearing or how the wool comes off,” the 45-year-old told The Carillon . “To me, it’s how does he position his feet? Where does his feet go? How does the sheep lay? That’s the technique that if you can get good at it, then you’ll have good sheep.” Stalman started raising sheep at his farm eight kilometres east of La Broquerie in 2016. His farm has now grown to 450 ewes. In 2019, Stalman decided to start shearing both his and other farms’ sheep. But during many shearings, he saw the cut wool wasted and land on burn piles because there were no use for the fleeces. “It’s a little sad that you have to push the wool on the burn pile,” he said. But events like Manitoba Fibre Festival, held on Sept 5 and 6, have helped educate people about the province’s wool industry and how it can be better used, Stalman said. The festival marked its 13th year, and hosted Manitoba-based ven- dors and wool producers who show- cased the wool’s life-cycle, from sheep to scarf. The wool industry in the province is still young, and the demand is slowly growing, Stalman said. He said more resources and train- ing are needed for shearing in Man- itoba. Stalman learned how to shear through YouTube videos and an ex- perienced farmer gave him a crash course. That’s left him to be mostly self-taught, despite Stalman want- ing to improve his leg position and technique while shearing, “Some things you learn, you think you did it right, but then you do little things wrong, or I teach myself the wrong way of doing things,” he said.
MATTHEW FRANK THE CARILLON
Remko Stalman maneuvers a sheep to cut a complete fleece.
The Manitoba Sheep Association offers a sheering course annually, which Stalman has taken for the last three years. But having more one- on-one teaching is the only way for him to get better, he said. “It sometimes looks hard and sometimes it is hard. Depends on the sheep, on the wool, on the cli- mate, it is one of the hardest jobs
in the world,” Stalman said. “But it’s amazing, if you have the technique, what you can do.” Once he finished buzzing the sheep, Anna Hunter scooped up the fresh wool and carried it to a neigh- bouring table. There, she unfurled it with a toss and shook fleece free of any debris. Once she threw the fleece on the table, she “skirted”
wool, which cleans and assesses the quality of the wool while Hunter picks through it. Cleaning the fleece is one of the most important things to preserve the wool’s value, she said. Hunter is one of the festival organizers and owns a 30 sheep-farm in Ste Gen- eviève. Originally from Vancouver, the
46-year-old described herself as a “chronic knitter.” That love drove her to open a yarn shop in Vancou- ver because she wanted to sell Cana- dian-made yarn. But while running the shop, she couldn’t find much to fill her store.
See ‘Wool can be used’ on 3C
MATTHEW FRANK THE CARILLON Christel Lanthier holds yarn made from her sheep. Each bundle of yarn has the picture and name from the sheep its from.
MATTHEW FRANK THE CARILLON One of Christel Lanthier’s felted wool vests on display the Manitoba Fibre Festival. Lanthier uses a combination of natural dyes grown from her garden to colour the vests.
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MATTHEW FRANK THE CARILLON
Three sheep waiting to be sheared.
Wool can be used for fertilizer Continued from page 2C
to Manitoba wool isn’t wool pro- duced elsewhere, but synthetic fi- bres. Wool is important because it has less environmental impact than synthetic products and its a renew- able resource, Hunter said. One of the farmers, also in Ste Geneviève, who’s taken advantage of the wool mill is Christel Lanthi- er. She has 100 sheep, each with their own name her children gave them. Lanthier graduated with fine arts degrees from the University of Manitoba and the University of Al- berta. When she moved from Winni- peg with her husband to the farm, she experimented with raising five sheep because “wool is a cool tex- tile” for art. “They’re small, they’re interest- ing, they won’t kill us, and we can have their fiber,” she said. Lanthier began processing the wool into yarn, but soon began making felts. She now sells felt- ed vests, earrings and mitts, along with her yarn. She took full advan- tage of Hunter’s mill to get the wool cleaned and processed for whatever art she had in mind. Now, Lanthier has five different breeds and a dye garden so she can combine organic and natural colours for her felts. While demand is slowly growing for Manitoba wool products, she said if people keep asking for it, the markets will notice and adjust to meet the need. “We think a lot about food, like this is farm to table food, but we don’t often think about farm to tex- tile, like farm to shirt, Lanthier said. “And it can be done. It’s done in our backyard, and we just have to do it more.”
So in 2015, she decided to sell the shop and move with her husband and kids to southeastern Manitoba to start their own wool farm. Three years later, she opened up the prov- ince’s first wool processing mill. She said Canada is lagging behind on the infrastructure needed to pro- cess wool domestically. “We have a lot of sheep. We have variety of wool quality, but we don’t have anywhere to process it,” Hunt- er said. She said nearly 90 percent of Ca- nadian-grown wool is processed out of country, with China being the top importer. Canadian Co-operative Wool Growers is the main buyer of Cana- dian-grown wool, but Hunter said the price-per-pound is low, about 25 cents. Manitoba farmers don’t bother bundling and selling their wool be- cause the prices aren’t worth it after accounting for transportation and other costs, she said. “As a knitter, that’s such a trage- dy. Knitters hear that and they’re so discouraged,” Hunter said. “But we can’t process enough wool to make it worth anything.” She said for Manitoba’s wool in- dustry to thrive, wool has to be val- ued. One solution is shifting atten- tion away from creating yarn with wool to making fertilizer, Hunter said. Her processing mill is the only plant in the province that converts wool into fertilizer pellets, along with regular yarn production. Hunt- er pays $1 per pound, which is more appealing for farmers than shipping across the ocean. She said there’s
MATTHEW FRANK THE CARILLON
Christel Lanthier raises 100 sheep on her farm and makes felted wool products.
we can develop other products be- cause we have wool that’s valued,” Hunter said. She believes the true competitor
with farmers about how they can change management to keep their wool cleaner, so that maybe they can make $6-a-pound. Then maybe
more uses for the pellets and it takes less resources than producing yarn. “If wool pellets can be the first step that opens up a conversation
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SVJETLANA MLINAREVIC CARILLON ARCHIVES
Action in the corral brings out the best in competitors.
Top rodeo credits volunteers and sponsors
But the Southeast continues to supply competitors and fans for a variety of rodeos, including those hosted by the HRA. The award was presented to Rich- er organizers at the league’s finals in Grunthal last month. Chosen by the competitors who are also HRA members, the award is important to organizers. “Our organizers, all the people on the committee and also our volun- teers… their attention to detail is topnotch,” Stolwyk said. While it’s the action on the corral that many come to see, Stolwyk said they’ve always had another priority. “The focus has always been to pay attention to the children and make sure the kids are taken care of, and make sure they have something to
After 11 years of hosting rodeos, Stolwyk said some things are be- coming turnkey. He attributes that to having people in place that know exactly what they’re doing. It’s not hard to see why the com- munity feels so much ownership over the annual event. With a Statistics Canada estimate of over 600 people in Richer, and 130 volunteers, that means more than one in five residents is a volun- teer. In fact, Richer’s challenge is not in finding volunteers but in finding roles for everyone. “We get constant asks leading up to that, so we try not to turn anybody away,” he said. “We try to find something for everybody to do because we want them to feel like
look forward to,” he said. “Because let’s face it. If the children are taken care of, then the parents are going to come.” It’s no mystery why the Richer event is recognized for its organiza- tion. The committee starts early and works late. They’ve already been planning next year’s rodeo. “We start our meetings the first Tuesday after the rodeo and we start planning for next year,” he said. “We meet once a month leading up to it and the in the last two months we meet every week.” “There’s a lot of detail. There’s a lot of moving parts,” he added. “You have to make sure you’re on top of all that.”
they’re part of it.” Every small-town festival, fair or rodeo requires something often said to be just as important as those willing to lend a hand, and that’s sponsors. That too is something that has made Richer’s event a major suc- cess. “I can’t even begin to tell you how southeast Manitoba has got be- hind the Richer Rodeo and all the local businesses,” he said. “It’s very humbling. It really, really is. Without the support of volunteers and also sponsors it just doesn’t happen. It’s that simple.”
by GREG VANDERMEULEN T here are a few good reasons why Richer Rough Stock Ro- deo was named the Heartland Rodeo Association (HRA) rodeo of the year for 2025. And those reasons also explain why this is their ninth award in 11 years. “I think southeastern Manitoba is a hotbed for rodeo,” Richer Rough Stock Rodeo president Pat Stolwyk said. “There’s no doubt about it with Grunthal being close and also Beausejour. We’re also very close to Winnipeg so that helps.” It’s typically western Manitoba that people would associate with belt buckles, cowboy boots, cowboy hats, and horses.
See ‘Family focus’ on 5C
TONI DE GUZMAN CARILLON ARCHIVES
Kayla Normand and Miranda Braun at the Richer Rough Stock Rodeo in 2025.
SVJETLANA MLINAREVIC CARILLON ARCHIVES Phoebe Monchamp from Winnipeg gets her face painted during the Richer Rough Stock Rodeo on Aug. 10, 2024.
SVJETLANA MLINAREVIC CARILLON ARCHIVES A four-year-old tries her hardest to hang on during the mutton busting event at the Richer Rough Stock Rodeo in 2024.
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Family focus gives HRA the edge
Continued from page 4C
With dedication comes success, and with success comes an event that people will travel home for. That was the goal Stolwyk said he and his wife discussed when they first decided to help with what was then a new event. “I wanted to create an event that my kids, no matter where they are in this country, will come back at least for that week and spend it with us an enjoy an event in their community,” he said. “I want people to plan their holidays around that event.” “And now that’s happening be- cause I hear that from a lot of peo- ple,” he said. During the event Stolwyk said he likes to take a moment to see people having fun. And when he takes in the evening social where organizers and volunteers gather, the reasons for their success become apparent once again. “They’re all in it for the same rea- son and that’s for our future and it’s HRA judging director Rob Man- chester said the industry is facing challenges but added that Richer is an example of what works. He too credited the volunteers. for the kids,” he said, Facing challenges “They have the best phenome- nal group of volunteers,” he said. “They’re willing to step up.” HRA generally hosts about eight rodeos per season. Higher costs mean entrants con- sider each trip carefully, deciding whether it’s worth the gas and the entry fees. Larger rodeos like Richer’s can also boast larger payouts, and that combined with a larger enthusiastic crowd makes it a desired location for competitors Manchester said. A lack of entrants has become a challenge in some areas. “We still have a lot of barrel racers, and we still have a lot of team rop- ers, calf ropers but it’s really tough to get the rough stock riders like your bronc riders and your bareback rid- ers,” he said. “When I started it was not uncommon to get six or seven
SVJETLANA MLINAREVIC CARILLON ARCHIVES Eva Wootton from St Adolphe wrapped a boa from Fraser Reptiles around her shoulders in 2024. Ensuring there are children’s events helps create that family atmosphere.
tough to get out there,” he said. “We really do our best when someone does sponsor us to really pump their name, their product because it’s get- ting really hard to get sponsorships now.” And while there are always chal- lenges, HRA’s website tagline is something many attendees at any of their event will agree with. “Time spent at the rodeo is never wasted,” it states.
like the weekend warriors, not the professional cowboys because all of us still make a living,” he said. “It’s more of an amateur type associa- tion.” While individual rodeos such as Richer are doing well at attracting and keeping sponsors, Manchester said it remains a challenge for the HRA. “I think every association, be it ro- deo, be it hockey, anything, it’s get- ting tough because the dollars are
and team roping, the now 60-year- old explained the various rodeo as- sociations that compete. The Canadian Pro Rodeo Associa- tion is what the describes as the NHL of rodeo. The Manitoba Rodeo Cowboys As- sociation would be considered semi professional, kind of like seniors’ leagues in hockey. And Heartland itself? It’s more like beer league, he said. “It’s more family oriented, more
at every event. Now we’re lucky if we get two or three.” That’s why the HRA added a ranch- bronc riding category. This event uses a normal saddle and allows competitors to use both hands. “It’s really made a difference be- cause now some guys are willing to ride because they can use two hands and they’re used to riding a bucking horse,” he said. A former competitor in calf roping
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FLASHBACK
July 27, 1994
CARILLON ARCHIVES In this aerial photo, semi-trailers next to the building at the Tritek Farms construction site look like toy trucks, indicating the massive size of the first of two Janzen/Vielfaure barns being built to house a 2,500 farrow-to-weanling hog operation. Huge Tritek barns reflect a bright future for hogs
The shopping list brings a gleam to the eye of concrete suppliers like C.T. Loewen and Sons, who won this contract. Twenty-eight hun- dred cubic yards or 2,000 cubic metres is a lot of concrete by any measure, considering an average house basement needs only about 40 cubic metres. To get an idea of just how huge these two barns are, before they have finished, crews will have poured enough concrete for all the basements in Steinbach’s South- land Estates housing subdivision. The Terra-Nova crew can’t wait for one of two 75-foot by 200- foot slabs for the second barn to be poured, so they can play floor hockey on their lunch breaks, Rempel chuckled. Plywood by the truckload The Tritek barns will use 8,000 sheets of plywood compared to the 500 sheets needed for the barn expansion to house 1,200 feeders that Rempel’s crew recently built on Provincial Road 303. “Here they deliver a semi-trailer load of plywood at a time, while we are used to getting plywood by the lift.” The building, dwarfing semi-trailers parked next to it, is nearly clad in metal as workers hurry to meet the Aug. 1 deadline. At the site, earlier in July, Rempel was confident they would be able meet the deadline. Depending on the weather of course, he was quick to add. With a building this size, both wind and rain are elements that have to be contended with. More than one otherwise ideal day was spoiled because the wind made it impossible to use the crane to put up rafters.
We’ve hit some of those times, but never to the extent our father did.” Vielfaure is confident the peaks and the valleys will never again be as severe and sees a real potential for growth in the hog industry in this area. New regulations governing live- stock operations are a positive factor too, as producers now know exactly where they stand. Their op- erations, presently three 600-sow barns on separates sites between La Broquerie and Marchand, have the advantage of being secluded from their neighbors. The Viel- faures have not experienced any of the opposition others have faced nearer urban centres. The Vielfaures recently bought 160 acres for the new farrowing op- eration and there is plenty of land for sale in the area for further ex- pansion. For their part, neighbor- ing farmers are more than willing to take the hog manure as fertilizer for their own forage crops. Janzen agrees it is this shared view of the future that got the two operations together in this latest major expansion. The Vielfaures had started planning for barns for 1,500 sows last August, but when they heard Janzen might be inter- ested, they approached him with the idea of joining forces and add- The Vielfaures and Janzen are not the only ones reaping the benefits of the bright future of an expand- ing hog industry in the Southeast. A steady stream of trucks deliver- ing material, a long row of vehicles parked waiting for workers to fin- ish a shift, and two dozen carpen- ters enjoying a brief outdoor coffee break in the sunshine, all reflect ing another 1,000 sows. Boosting the economy
“Things go quickly when the weather is right. It is amazing how much can be accomplished in a week without interruptions.” Rempel is certainly enjoying the present building boom in the hog industry, although he admits there is a certain amount of pressure in juggling the number of inter-con- nected projects. A Borland Road barn had to be finished the day before the July long weekend to be ready for stock, due to arrive the following Tues- day. And the first of the two Tritek barns must be ready for gilts right after the August long weekend, he explained. The La Broquerie area is leading the way in both expansion and in- novation in a very competitive hog industry. Last year, Elite Swine Inc. built the first isolation barn in Manitoba near Marchand and now there are four 4,500 sq.ft. barns on that site. Bruce Campbell, owner of Land- mark Feeds Group, which just cel- ebrated its 40th anniversary, looks to the hog sector and producers like Janzen and the Vielfaures for a continued significant increase in their percentage of the feed com- pany business. Manitoba Agriculture Minister Harry Enns describes pork pro- duced in Manitoba as the best in the world, saying the multi-mil- lion-dollar market opportunity will create thousands of new jobs on Manitoba farms and in processing industries. Farrel Rempel at Terra-Nova, and Curt Loewen and Roger Loewen at C.T. Loewen and Sons hope the ag- riculture minister is right. After all, it’s good for their businesses too.
the boost a project like this gives the local economy. Construction supervisor Farrel Rempel of Terra-Nova Construc- tion said barns, hog barns in par- ticular, are becoming a large part of his business. “We build four to six houses a year, mostly for friends, and may- be a shop or two, but mostly it is barns.” The smaller of the Tritek Farms’ two barns, slated to be ready for gilts early in August, rises 30 feet from floor to peak, stretches out 188 feet in width and is 282 feet deep. The larger farrowing facility, to be ready by October, will be 155 feet wide and 400 feet long. The two barns will total 115,000 square feet, covering approximately three acres. That is just slightly smaller than the regional high school in Steinbach. These, of course, are the largest barns Rempel and his crew have tackled, although they have a num- ber of other projects currently on the go. Terra Nova’s forte is that they of- fer a complete package by bidding on materials and labour, as well as the supplying and installing of equipment, Rempel explained. In the case of the Vielfaure/ Janzen facility, the Vielfaure broth- ers have made all the penning themselves and will be buying part of the feeding system, but have manufactured some parts of that as well. The material package and labor for the barns will run close to $2 million and when equipment and stocks are added in, the total in- vestment will be nearer $4.5 mil- lion.
by WES KEATING O nly modesty prevents La Broquerie’s Vielfaure broth- ers and the boss of Boss Hogs Farms from agreeing they are on their way to becoming Manito- ba’s largest hog producers. A pair of huge barns under con- struction southwest of La Broque- rie will house 2,500 sows in a far- row-to-weanling operation. Once the facility, a joint venture known as Tritek Farms, is in full produc- tion, Don Janzen and Paul, Denis and Claude Vielfaure will be sup- plying 150,000 weanlings to the feeder market annually. Janzen, who started in the poul- try business with his father and ex- panded into hogs in 1986, says the challenges of a non-supply-man- agement commodity are different. Not being controlled like dairy or poultry, both production numbers and efficiency have to be there to succeed in a wide open market, he emphasized. Janzen bought his father’s farm in 1980 and currently has 2,500 sows on three separate locations; one near Randolph, one near New Bothwell and a third 10 miles south of Steinbach. Paul, Denis and Claude Vielfaure grew up amid the expanding Viel- faure family farm operation, learn- ing valuable lessons on how to survive the lows from their father, Albert. Paul Vielfaure said they are do- ing many of the same things their father did—expanding, working on inflation, taking advantage of low- er feed costs and interest rates. “What really doesn’t mix is when the price of hogs is down and feed costs and interest rates are way up.
CARILLON ARCHIVES Don Janzen and Roger and Curt Loewen have a roof over their heads as the final rafters ar being lifted into place by a crane at the first of two Tritek hog barns is nearing completion in the La Broquerie area.
CARILLON ARCHIVES Denis and Paul Vielfaure, Don Janzen and Claude Vielfaure discuss the delivery schedule for a couple of thousand cubic metres of concrete with C.T. Loewen and Sons president Curt Loewen.
CARILLON ARCHIVES Carpenters maneuver another huge rafter into place as the crane operator gently lowers it to the top of the walls of the Tritek barn.
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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2025
TIM SMITH BRANDON SUN
The Canada Packers plant on Richmond Avenue East.
Packers aims to ‘unleash pork business’
ed growth, nothing changes for the Brandon plant or its processes, Organ said. Canada Packers had been operating as a wholly owned subsidiary of Maple Leaf Foods since July, and had been operating as a divi- sion of Maple Leaf Foods before that. The Can- ada Packers brand dates back to 1927. The creation of the spinoff was passed in June with 99.94 per cent approval from all Ma- ple Leaf Foods shareholders and 99.88 per cent support from public shareholders, excluding holdings by the McCain family. Organ said the split from Maple Leaf Foods was due to economics and being able to focus specifically on the pork business. He said that includes a focus on the Brandon plant. “Now that we’re unleashed, we can focus on things like growing Brandon and just pork-spe- cific initiatives,” Organ said. “It would have been a little bit more difficult under the old arrangement, but it’s primary fo- cus right now.” Canada Packers currently has three plants in operation — in Brandon, Landmark and Leth- bridge, Alta. It also has an idle plant in Winni- peg. The headquarters is in Mississauga, Ont. The change also means that Canada Packers will begin operating on the Toronto Stock Ex- change starting today as “CPKR.” Maple Leaf Foods continues to hold a 16 per cent ownership interest in Canada Packers, and will continue to work side by side in the prepared meats business, the company said in a press release. The Sun reached out to Maple Leaf Foods, but didn’t hear back on Wednesday. In July, the Sun reported that the new Maple Leaf Foods Sports Complex in northeast Bran- don would keep its name. Organ said to “stay tuned” on whether that is still the case, as Ma- ple Leaf Foods no longer has a presence in the Wheat City. - Brandon Sun
by ALEX LAMBERT M aple Leaf Foods has finalized its spinoff of Canada Packers Inc., mak- ing its pork plants in Manitoba and Alberta a separate company. As of Wednesday, the pork processing plant in Brandon became part of Canada Packers. “It’s been a while to get here, but I feel great, and especially from the Brandon perspec- tive,” president and CEO Dennis Organ said Wednesday. “One of the things that we’re talking about is unleashing the pork business.” The corporate split will allow the 6355 Rich- mond Ave. East plant to grow in production and create more jobs, Organ said. “We’re going to grow,” he said. “That’s what it really means, is we have a growth strategy. We think we can grow our top line processing vol- ume numbers.” The company’s flagship plant in Brandon has already seen an increase in staff numbers during the past year, he said, but this will en- hance that growth. In July, the former Maple Leaf Foods plant received $1,095,000 in funding from the pro- vincial government to upgrade the plant’s split saws, which cut pig carcasses. The addition was to improve speed and efficiency and limit waste. At the time, the plant processed 16,000 pigs a day. It currently employs about 2,200 staff, ac- cording to the Canada Packers website. “By doing more volume, we’ll be adding more jobs,” Organ said. “We’re making plans to build for the next 100 years. So, Brandon will remain — we’re work- ing to build the hog infrastructure and the sur- rounding farms in Manitoba to also support that growth.” Aside from the name change and expect-
SUPPLIED
Dennis Organ.
Relationships matter
of CUSMA. When are the Canadian consultations going to begin? The best time to start the development of a strategic pan-Canadian agricul- tural position on the key elements of the CUSMA would have been about 18 months ago. The second-best time to start this dialogue with the agriculture community is today. If this does not occur, Canada runs the risk that we will go into the critical part of the CUSMA review with both industry and governments divided. That could be a mistake that has far reaching consequences for farmers from coast to coast. For agriculture, the overall goal go- ing into the CUSMA review must be the preservation and expansion of the integrated North American mar- ket for both agricultural commodi- ties and food. For the betterment of farmers, processors and consumers, we must actively target the elimina- tion of tariff and non-tariff trade bar- riers including, regulatory misalign- ment between Canada and the U.S., increased use of restrictive country of origin labelling requirements, and individual state regulations that re- strict trade within North America. Our strategic discussions with our CUSMA partners should also rec- ognize that, in an increasingly less stable international trading envi- ronment, secure trade within North America of agriculture commodities and food contributes to the national security of all three CUSMA signato- ries and helps deliver a reliable and safe food supply for North American consumers. Cam Dahl is the general manager of the Manitoba Pork Council.
tionships are built. Relationships are built by showing up at state fairs as friends and neighbours. Canadians cannot afford to have potential al- lies in the U.S. and Mexico turned off by aggressive commentary coming from north of the 49th parallel. We need partnership not rhetoric. For Canadian agriculture, this out- reach should be the top priority for the industry, especially for the 90 percent of Canadian farmers who depend on international markets for their price discovery and sales. While we must look to diversify our markets, we cannot replace the U.S. as a destination. For example, Man- itoba ships over 3 million live pigs to be finished in the U.S. every year. Today these exports are moving un- der the protection of CUSMA. If we were to lose that protection or have the integration between producers in the U.S. and Canada weakened, these animals would have no alter- native markets and communities across our province would feel the economic impact. Canada’s federal, provincial, and territorial agriculture ministers met in Winnipeg the second week of Sep- tember. I am hopeful that they dis- cussed the development of a strate- gic outreach plan with our partners in the U.S. Not every minister needs to visit every state capitol in the lower 48 states, but we should have a plan in place to have at least one agricultural delegation reach out to most of them before the 45-day comment period on the effective- ness of CUSMA expires. Which brings me to my closing ob- servation. The U.S. has started pub- lic consultations on the effectiveness
by CAM DAHL O n Sept. 17, the Office of the United States Trade Repre- sentative (USTR) began a 45- day public comment period on the effectiveness and impact of the Can- ada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUS- MA), and public hearings on CUSMA will be held in the U.S. this Novem- ber. The process to review Canada’s most important trade agreement has begun. Our relationships with our part- ners, customers, and suppliers in the U.S. matter now more than ever. Re- cently, Manitoba Pork was on a mis- sion to Iowa with Manitoba’s Minis- ter of Agriculture, Ron Kostyshyn. It was an opportunity to talk to Iowa’s farm leaders and politicians about the value of our integrated mar- ket and the trade between us. We could not have received a warmer welcome. There is a strong under- standing south of the border about the value of our trading relation- ship. The USTR and U.S. Congress will likely not give a lot of weight to comments from the Canadian pork sector, Canadian agriculture in gen- eral, or even our federal and provin- cial governments, but they will listen to the Governor of Iowa and elected representatives of Iowa’s agriculture base. While it might look good on social media or on television for a Canadi- an politician, in a fit of pique, to pour out whiskey distilled in Manitoba over a disagreement with a multi-na- tional company, or to threaten to turn off the lights in American states, this is not how strong positive rela-
Cam Dahl.
n THE CARILLON STEINBACH, MAN. C8
n www.thecarillon.com THURSDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2025
Committed to Our Community Proudly telling the stories that affect Southeastern Manitobans.
NEWS THAT MATTERS TO PEOPLE IN SOUTHEASTERN MANITOBA
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