GM Message | KAP 2025 Annual Report

Looking back on 2024-25

Colin Hornby

It’s hard to believe the year is over! At KAP, we kept ourselves busier than we could have even thought possible. Working under the guidance of our strategic plan, which began in 2023-24, has helped ensure that our team had the key result areas and strategic objectives that have been set and prioritized by our farmer board at the forefront of everything we do.

With a focus on advocacy, engagement & outreach, regulatory modernization, and governance and funding, KAP has been able to deliver results for our members across the board. One big win that all agriculture groups have been able to share is the removal of the federal consumer carbon pricing regime, which removed the additional cost on producers for drying grain and regulating temperature in livestock buildings. Another key win we all shared as well at the federal level was on the passage of C-244 and C-294, which focused on right to repair and interoperability, respectively.

On the provincial front, KAP was able to deliver on a series of successes that benefit Manitoba farmers. These include:

$500,000 in additional money for the Sustainable Agriculture Manitoba (SAM) program
Changes to the Disaster Financial Assistance (DFA) program focused on the removal of the complex ownership requirement, the increase of the maximum yearly gross revenue to $15 million, and the shift of the maximum compensation rate to $3 million to reflect modern farm operations.
Securing the inclusion of marked gasoline & diesel in the 10% permanent reduction in fuel tax
Opening of 2 new MASC service centres in Shoal Lake and Virden
Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporation (MASC) increased lending limits, including the overall limit increased from $5.25 million to $5.75 million, Young Farmer loan limit increased from $300,000 to $400,000 and corresponding rebate increased from $30,000 to $40,000
Renewed multi-province funding agreement with WCVM for 5 additional seats, for a total investment of $8.3 million from Manitoba
Continued investment in the Port of Churchill, with $36.4 million over 2 years to Arctic Gateway Group in Budget 2025
Appointment of Trade Representative in Washington, DC
Release of a provincial Economic Development Strategy
Secured $100,000 for the Career Pathways Program, providing an online portal to highlight career pathways in agriculture and working to solve labour shortages

Looking externally, we made significant efforts on having Manitoba farmers and their interests promoted to government, industry, and other relevant stakeholders as part of our advocacy and engagement & outreach activities. This included:

Attending the Tri-National Agriculture Accord in October, which took place in Morelia, Mexico
Sponsoring and attending the State Ag & Rural Leaders (SARL) Ag Chairs Summit in Des Moines, Iowa, to connect with American and Canadian legislators
Participating in the Midwest Legislative Conference in Saskatoon in July, meeting with and building relationships with Canadian and American legislators
Multiple appearances before different committees of the House of Commons and Senate, including ENVI, AGRI
Appointment to Manitoba’s US Trade Council, advising province on CUSMA

Presenting member of the Leaders’ Forum on Growing the Economy, featuring Premier Wab Kinew as keynote speaker
Numerous meetings and engagements across industries and with influential organizations & decision-makers, such as the Bank of Canada, senior government officials in key departments, and elected officials at all levels including:
- Minister of Agriculture & Agri-Food, Heath MacDonald
- Premier Wab Kinew
- Manitoba’s Minister of Agriculture, Ron Kostyhsyn
- Leader of the Official Opposition, Obby Khan
- Mayor of Winnipeg, Scott Gillingham
Influence on the national stage, with KAP President, Jill Verwey’s election to Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) executive as 1st Vice President
Successful Federal-Provincial-Territorial meetings and farm tours with representatives from across Canada in July, showcasing Manitoba, as well as the opportunity to speak to all of Canada’s agriculture ministers on their meeting agenda about priorities in the sector
Membership on the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) Ag Standards Strategic Steering Committee

Finally, KAP also had some strong successes internally. With 2024 having the highest membership numbers since 2002, our team was feeling very confident that our work has been heading in the right direction. Some of the things we are proud of include:

Overwhelming member support of bylaw changes to continue KAP’s modernization process and advance key governance changes
Key staffing additions, with Marissa Zurba and Lisha Hassanali joining the KAP team
New group member, MB Nursery & Landscape Association, to ensure the interest of their industry as part of the agricultural ecosystem are part of our work
Release of KAP’s Manitoba Agriculture Trade Action Plan, focused on key areas which the province of Manitoba should focus when looking at trade and how agriculture is impacted by government policies and initiatives
Successful model of utilizing farmer policy roundtables at the 2025 AGM, focused on understanding what farmers want when it comes to trade and business risk management program policies
Continued improvements to the KAP website, focused on user-friendliness and a significant increase in the amount of up-to-date information and content for members to be aware of KAP’s submissions and work

This list is not exhaustive but highlights some of the key things that your check-off dollars helped to achieve and support in 2024-25. Keeping the priorities and perspectives of Manitoba farmers top of mind for key decision-makers is something that we strive for every day at KAP.

We thank all of KAP’s individual, supporter, and group members for the support you showed us this past year. KAP is driven to deliver for each and every one of you through our vision of a prosperous future for all Manitoba farmers and as we look ahead to 2025-26, we will continue serving our members with purpose and by delivering on this vision.