KAP President Helping To Update Ag Equipment Transportation Regulations

Jul 10, 2017

Keystone Agriculture Producers and the Government of Manitoba have been discussing new agriculture equipment regulations. KAP President Dan Mazier says some changes were made to the rules in the late 90's and never got another update, adding transportation regulations have been a kind of void since then.

"They're very outdated policies and their asking us simple things like throttle controls and ignition switches. The department came to us and said 'Here's ten bullet points that we're considering to start with, what do you think?', and we threw out half of them because they're just not relevant anymore like having glass in windows and things like that."

Mazier, who also sits on the Canadian Standards Association Ag Technical Committee with access to all the major manufacturers, says the Province also got an update as far as national regulations and what's going on in other provinces.

"One thing we didn't want to see was a different standard being set here in Manitoba versus in Saskatchewan or Ontario so they're going to look at that. There's lots of good, modern work being done that I don't think the Province has to do too much work."

Meantime, Transport Canada has outlined the next steps of the country's new rail transportation legislation.

Mazier was a part of the latest meeting and says the Federal Transport Committee is returning to Ottawa early to start listening to feedback on the new bill. He says KAP's message was loud and clear - that the gap being created between the old bill the and new bill is a bit of concern, particularly with regards to inter-switching.

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.