Alta. forms ag advisory committee

May 20, 2020

The 10-person group will provide the provincial government with industry advice and recommendations

By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com

A group of 10 representatives from the agricultural, agri-food and academic sectors make up Alberta’s new Agriculture Industry Advisory Committee.

The committee will act as “Champions of Agriculture” and provide Alberta Agriculture and Forestry with advice and recommendations on issues and priorities including consumer confidence and debunking industry myths.

“Alberta has a hard-earned reputation around the world for healthy, safe and reliable agriculture products,” Devin Dreeshen, Alberta’s minister of agriculture and forestry, said in a May 5 statement. “Our agriculture industry is well placed to meet the growing demand and compete with constant innovation.”

One of the producers on the committee is Jill Harvie, the owner/operator of Harvie Ranching in Olds, Alta.

She is one of the committee’s co-chairs and looks forward to working with the other members to help celebrate the industry.

Jill Harvie

Minister Dreeshen “really wants us to work towards a common voice to highlight agriculture here at home and around the world,” Harvie told Farms.com. “Much of the discussion thus far has been getting the committee set up and understanding what our tasks will be.”

Agriculture in Alberta employs more than 75,000 people and generates more than $11.6 billion in annual export sales.

“It’s important we don’t lose sight of that,” Harvie said. “At times I think the message of how the food supply chain works has been somewhat lost in the shuffle.”

The committee will provide opportunities for discussions with the public about how important the industry is to the province as a global trading partner and as a local food resource, she said.

The other committee members are:

Nichole Neubauer – co-chair and owner/operator of Neubauer Farms
Allison Ammeter – farmer and chair of the Plant Protein Alliance of Alberta
David Colwell – president and CEO of JBS Foods Canada
Jeff Fitzpatrick-Stilwell – sustainability and agriculture lead at McDonald’s Canada
Bob Lowe – president of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association
Jean-Marc Ruest – senior vice-president, corporate affairs and general counsel at Richardson International Limited
John Simpson, chair of CANA group of companies and owner/operator of Simpson Ranching
Baljit Singh – dean, faculty of veterinary medicine at the University of Calgary
Gary Stanford – farmer and past-chair of Alberta Wheat Commission

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.