Heading into the new year, Manitoba Agriculture, Food, and Rural Development Minister Ron Kostyshyn says they're already looking into the next set of agriculture policy framework.

He says they've met with various stakeholders to look at how the government can enhance the current various programs, with a focus on looking into value-added opportunities.

For example, Kostyshyn says they've done well with bringing hemp farming and processing to Manitoba, so now they're looking further into crops like soybeans.

"Throughout the province of Manitoba, soybean acres have really increased, and where do we see, hopefully, a processing industry that we can process based on the amount of acres that we've got? Is there an opportunity that we can have soybean processing?" He says. "These are things that we look at with a number of tools in the toolbox that can help out in Growing Forward Three."

He adds they look forward to hearing back from the task force which set out to examine ag policy framework this year.

The current policy, Growing Forward Two, expires in 2018.