The province is extending the temporary rent reduction on agricultural Crown lands announced last year by the previous government.
The announcement was Agriculture Minister Ron Kostyshyn’s first attempt to tackle the contentious issue of agricultural Crown lands (ACL).
“[This] announcement is part of our promise to ensure affordability with ACL lease rates and begins to accomplish the goals set out in the minister of agriculture mandate letter,” said Kostyshyn in a press release. “We will continue to review the ACL program to ensure it best serves Manitoba producers.”
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Why it matters: The agricultural Crown lands file has been in turmoil since regulatory changes were announced in 2019.
In September 2022, the province announced a 50 per cent temporary rent reduction for ACL leases for 2023, a 33 per cent reduction in 2024 and a 15 per cent reduction in 2025.
The recent announcement increases the reduction from 50 per cent to 55 per cent and extends the rent reduction into 2024. The Nov. 24 release did not say whether the reduction would continue into 2025.
During the election, the PCs campaigned on the idea of making the 50 per cent rent reduction permanent.
In a statement released on X, formerly Twitter, KAP president Jill Verwey said she was pleased with the announcement.
“KAP applauds the provincial government for their announcement today on further reductions to rent rates on Ag Crown Lands, which KAP had successfully previously lobbied for,” she said.
In 2019, the province introduced regulatory changes to forage and grazing Crown lands that raised the hackles of existing lease holders. The changes included higher rents on leases.
But the main irritant from those changes was elimination of unit transfers so that leaseholders could no longer transfer the lease to new owners when they sold their farms.
During the election, the NDP campaigned on a promise to undo many of those changes, including those to unit transfer. However, in recent weeks, Kostyshyn has appeared less firm on those commitments.
“What we are doing is basically starting from ground zero and reviewing the present Crown land lease legislation that was brought in by the previous government,” he said in an interview with the Co-operator in early November.
Carson Callum, general manager of the Manitoba Beef Producers, said he doesn’t object to a pause on some election promises.
“Now that the government is in place, they are probably really taking a hard look at what the wants and needs of the industry are and seeing what will work out best for the viability of the ACL program,” he said.
“They may be rethinking things and deciding how they should approach it, so I can respect that.”
However, he added that, after years of chaos and uncertainty, calming the waters should be the new government’s goal.
“The main thing we want to see is some stability and for producers to have some ability for long-term planning with these leases that they utilize,” said Callum. “I don’t think we want to see another long industry consultation or industry regulation adjustment. I think that would add some more long-term instability to the file.”
Callum said the province needs to recognize that recent consultations and changes made by the previous government addressed some of the chaos that emerged with the 2019 rollout of regulatory changes.
“We don’t need to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Let’s take the good parts and ensure that we can make a stable program.”
Callum said the extended rent reduction announcement indicates the province is moving in the right direction.
“It’s a positive announcement. It recognizes the inflationary pressures producers have been under and also recognizes the drastic increase in rent that happened a number of years ago,” he said.
“It’s an important first step that they have made here. And we’ll continue to engage with them on other priorities within the Crown lands file.”
In an emailed statement in response to the temporary rent reduction extension, Manitoba Crown Land Leaseholders Association president Brent Benson said the organization is grateful and hopes a more permanent solution to high rents can soon be implemented.
“We appreciate Premier Kinew and Minister Kostyshyn for fulfilling this part of their campaign promise, but a longer-term solution would put producers’ minds at ease,” read the statement.
It also said the association looks forward to working with Kostyshyn to reach a solution that’s more in line with that of other provinces; one that recognizes the environmental contributions Crown lands offer in meeting the province’s sustainability goals.
“This is definitely a positive first step in helping to correct a lot of the problems created with the devastating changes that were implemented in 2019,” the statement read.
