b'POLITICAL PERSUASION:A GUIDE TO EFFECTIVE ADVOCACYTwo politiciansa federal MP and a provincial MLAsit down to tell us how to best get our message across when lobbying.Marc ZienkiewiczIN THE WORLD of politics and agriculture, we often talk about how politicians can help us. We dont often talk about how we as the public can better communicate with them in order to help our politicians deliver on the policy changes that we want.It was in that spirit that we were joined by two Canadian pol-iticians on a recent episode of Seed Speaks: federal Conservative MP James Bezan and Jeff Bereza, who at the time was running in the Manitoba provincial election to represent the constituency of Portage la Prairie. He was elected on Oct. 3.Both are not only involved in politics but have also lived and breathed agriculture. Bezan has worked in livestock and lives on a farm. He has been elected seven times since 2004. Over the course of his parliamentary career, he has chaired the House of Commons Standing Committees for Agriculture and Agri-Food (2006-2008) and Environment (2008-2011). Since 2011 he has focussed on the national defence file and currentlyJeff Bereza was elected to office in October and is now the MLA for the serves as the shadow minister for national defence. Manitoba constituency of Portage la Prairie.Bereza is no stranger people in the seed industry. During his time at Ceres Global Seeds, he served as director of sales and marketing, successfully growing the business to become a leading independent soybean company across Western Canada. Most recently he was national director of sales for NexusBioAg, prior to running for office and being elected an MLA.Together, Bezan and Bereza helped our audience understand some of the big challenges facing people in the agricultural space, and how learning more about the reality of the agricul-tural sector is key to effectively lobbying for change.Challenges in Agriculture: Competitiveness and Rising CostsBezan, drawing from his experience in farming and livestock, emphasized the issue of global competitiveness in Canadian agriculture. He pointed out rising input costs, which make it increasingly expensive to produce food in Canada. This chal- James Bezan (third from left) is the Manitoba MP for the riding of Selkirk-lenge affects various agricultural sectors, including livestock,Interlake-Eastman. Hes seen here posing with a group of farmers as well grains, oilseeds and dairy. as fellow Manitoba MP Derek Johnson (second from right).42GERMINATION.CANOVEMBER 2023'