NFU Concerned About Closures

Jan 08, 2013

The National Farmers Union is raising concern over the closure of the Canadian Grain Commission’s Winnipeg Service Centre.

According to the NFU, all grain samples will be diverted to Weyburn.

"I know for a fact in Weyburn they don't have the facilities and they don't have the staff," says NFU spokesperson Ed Sagan. "What they're doing is downsizing, unloading and saying 'well, they don't need that service', but we do."

The NFU is also concerned about CP Rail's plans to close producer car loading sites at Killarney and Shoal Lake.

"The right to access producer cars may still exist, but without loading sites within a reasonable distance of their farms, the right is totally hollow," says NFU Manitoba coordinator Ian Robson.

Sagan says the government has an agenda to dismantle institutions that support farmers.

"Gerry Ritz and the Harper government in their wisdom are saying 'we don't need those institutions' let's let the industry control themselves. That's far from the truth. We need retain those organizations so they can protect the farmer. That's what this thing is all about," he says. "Anything that's good for us, they're destroying it."

Source: Steinbachonline

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.