Ontario Goat Producers Voted No!

Jul 24, 2012

Goat Producers Reject Marketing Board Proposal

The votes were cast and the results are in - Ontario goat producers voted no to a proposal for the creation of a goat marketing board. In order for the vote to have passed, two-thirds of goat producers would have had to voted yes, representing 50 per cent of goat farmers who casted their ballot. If the vote would have been yes, the Ontario Goat Producers would have filed paperwork to the Ontario Farm Products Marketing Acts and to receive official marketing board status.

Proponents for the marketing board including Ontario Goat President Anton Slingerland says that it’s a real lost opportunity for Ontario goat producers, explaining that having a board would have allowed the industry to work collectively, develop frameworks to address infra-structure, leadership and an overall vision for goat producers in Ontario. The Ontario Goat Producers represent the provinces milk, meat and fibre goat farmers.

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.