The challenge will be to find a middle ground that puts agricultural production on a sustainable basis without creating problems in other sectors of the economy and the environment. The Pasquia development at The Pas is the only major agricultural area in the Northern Coniferous Forest region. It has one community pasture. Most of the prime farmland is in crops, the lower classes in tame forage for livestock. The rest of the region comprises parks, forests, and vacant Crown land.
Main crops are cereals, flax, and canola.
One-third of Manitoba's beef cattle are raised here, mainly on ranches on the lower class lands of the Interlake and Westlake. Much of this grazing land is leased from the Crown. But because native pastures and associated woodlots support a greater variety of plants and animals than managed, tame pastures, they contribute to our enjoyment of the countryside and help maintain biological diversity. The region has nine community pastures. When new developments, particularly urban subdivisions, are built on productive agricultural land, the land is taken out of production, often irreversibly.