Discover the Farm

Discover the Farm, a hands-on event celebrating where our food comes from, is back for a second year and will bring together urban and rural Manitobans on Sunday, September 17 to kick off the province’s Farm and Food Awareness Week.

Free and open to the public, the event runs from 10am to 2pm at the Bruce D. Campbell Farm and Food Discovery Centre (FFDC), located 15 minutes south of Winnipeg. Visitors will have the chance to talk with Manitoba farmers, see live animals and explore prairies crops while participating in a variety of hands-on activities. Participating organizations will also be sharing recipes and other giveaways, including free food samples (as supplies last).

Manitoba Beef Producers is especially excited to welcome visitors to the event. Be sure to visit our space to see the new display table, wall and floor graphics that encourage visitor engagement while explaining how the beef industry interacts with many parts of the larger ecosystem. Chef Anna Borys, who represents MBP on the television show Great Tastes of Manitoba, will be sampling a delicious meatball recipe.

MBP is also bringing tablets featuring a tradeshow version of Guardians of the Grasslands, a gamified learning initiative being delivered into Manitoba classrooms this month (September) that was developed by the Canadian Cattle Association’s Public and Stakeholder Engagement group, a national Check-Off funded program that aims to build public trust in the way beef cattle are raised in Canada.

The Guardians of the Grasslands game is based on the award-winning short documentary released in 2019. The game is an online grazing simulation connected to curriculum outcomes for students in grades 7 through 10 in subjects such as Science. Participants learn how cattle promote carbon sequestration and provide wildlife habitat through rotational grazing on native grasslands. By moving cattle at the right time, and leaving enough grass behind, players earn carbon points and attract numerous species of wildlife to their land. Other stewardship practices, like using off-stream watering systems, are also featured along with invasive weeds that must be managed through grazing or avoided for toxicity concerns.

Discover the Farm provides the opportunity to learn more about the great diversity of food production in this province and the importance of agriculture to the provincial economy. Manitoba’s agribusiness sector generates $12.7 billion in revenue, with nearly 50,000 employed in the industry. There are 189 food and beverage manufacturing companies are located in Winnipeg, and the province is home to 24 agri-food research and development centres.