Alberta farmers Asked for Input on TPP Trade Deal

May 19, 2016

A senate committee is in Calgary this week to get input from farmers on international trade deals, including the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

The 12-country agreement would set the rules for more than a third of the world's trade, reducing tariffs on a large range of commodities like canola, fish and seafood, forestry products and industrial goods.

Ward Toma, general manager of the Alberta Canola Producers Commission, says the province's agriculture industry stands to benefit from the TPP.

It allows for us to access markets into the future. It allows for us to be competitive against our competitors," he said.

"Having the rules put in place around non-tariff trade barriers so that we can solve disputes around trade issues is very important for us."

The senate committee will put out a report with recommendations on international trade next March.

Canada has up to two years to decide whether to ratify the TPP.

Toma says canola producers in Alberta export up to 85 per cent of their crop to international markets, like the U.S. and Japan.

Source : CBC

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.