The Hanover School Division's Board of Trustees is looking at adding agricultural courses to the division's curriculum.
Jeff Friesen, the board's chair, says this would be a benefit to rural communities in the area and serve as an industrial introduction to agriculture, plant sciences, live animal care and more.
"We have a number of trustees that have their (agriculture) degrees and have been working on farming, and there's seems to be enough interest in the community," he says. "So we're looking into what kind of curriculums out there."
As the largest rural school division in Manitoba, he says it would be fitting to offer agriculture based education.
"We want to go deeper than just a course where you go for a little bit, but actually have vocational type programming," Friesen says.
He explains this would likely include project-based learning, visiting farms, and hands-on work.
"Something that prepares people for the farming industry," he says.
The board chair says this is all still in the brainstorming phase, so there aren't any details to be shared as far as what grades this would be offered yet or at which schools.
It is, however, something that feels needed in the area, Friesen says, and has been a conversation for multiple years.
"We've got to plan into the future, and the future is: People have to eat," he says. "There's people interested in farming that don't have the opportunity because of being in the city, and this is a way for them to experience farms."