Portage MLA Ian Wishart weighs in on today's announcement for a new Roquette pea protein extraction plant near Portage la Prairie. The announcement was made at the Legislature in Winnipeg, and Wishart shares what it means for our area.

"Oh, this is really great news for the constituency, as it is great news for Manitoba," says Wishart. "It's providing another product; another product line. We already did grow peas. This is going to expand the acres of peas in Manitoba. But it's sort of new-tech in that we're now fractioning the product and selling the constituents instead of just selling the raw thing. It's a real wonderful value-added win."

Wishart says this will require a large number of acres to produce what the plant will handle, and while other provinces will supply the peas, Manitoba farmers have a great opportunity. He adds the new facility will thereby provide our farmers with a strong base for a new marketing option.