KAP District Meetings Underway

Nov 26, 2014

Farmers will have the opportunity to voice their concerns over the next couple of weeks at one of Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP) district meetings.

"Out of these meetings we see resolutions from districts that are formulated and submitted to the annual meeting in January," said KAP President Doug Chorney. "This really forms the working plan for our organization going forward."

One of the issues being discussed is delays with rail transportation, which Chorney says is starting to become a problem once again.

"It's just a challenge, getting the railways to provide consistent, reliable service for grain transportation and I don't think that's going to go away quickly," he said.

Another topic was the formation of a flood task force that was announced by the province during last week's throne speech. The goal is to come up with innovative ways to help producers struggling with excess moisture.

"We know that water is a big issue for Manitoba, it has been historically and is more so today than ever before," said Chorney. "It's not just excessive water, there's water scarcity issues as well and drought resilience that needs to be talked about."

KAP district meetings are being held through to December 9, 2014.

Source: PortageOnline

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.