Ontario Supporting Block Three Brewing Company

Sep 02, 2015

Ontario is supporting a micro-brewery in St. Jacobs to help bolster the local economy and boost tourism in the region.

Through the Rural Economic Development program, the province is providing more than $35,000 to the Block Three Brewing Company Limited to help the company increase production and promote its product.

With this funding, the company plans to purchase new bottling and labelling equipment which will enable the firm to produce larger quantities of its product, expand distribution, and increase traffic to its tasting room.

With support from the Rural Economic Development program, rural Ontario will be better positioned to:

Attract investment and create high-value jobs;
Train and sustain a highly-skilled, knowledge-based workforce capable of succeeding in today's global economy;
Promote innovative and creative local industries that can translate ideas into products and services for a global market.

Since 2003, the province has invested more than $185 million in 598 Rural Economic Development program projects, generating more than $1.2 billion in local economic activity as well as retaining and creating more than 37,000 jobs.

Supporting rural communities is part of the government's economic plan for Ontario. The four-part plan includes investing in people's talents and skills, making the largest investment in public infrastructure in Ontario's history, creating a dynamic, innovative environment where business thrives, and building a secure retirement savings plan.

Source: OMAFRA

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.