Ontario Cattlemen’s to vote on name change at 2013 AGM

Feb 19, 2013

OCA to reopen debate on renaming the organization to Cattle Farmers of Ontario at 2013 AGM

Ontario cattle producers are gearing up for this year’s Ontario Cattlemen’s Association (OCA) annual general meeting that’s scheduled to kick-off on Wednesday at the Doubletree Hotel in Toronto, Ontario.

This year’s theme is entitled “Ontario Beef Business: The Engine of Rural Ontario”. The two-day event will include 2013 OCA board of director elections, Environmental Stewardship Award presentations, an annual banquet, and several keynote speakers.

One of the big proposals that will be voted on is a potential name change for the organization from the OCA to Cattle Farmers of Ontario, which if passed would rebrand the organization to align with other livestock organizations such as the Dairy Farmers of Ontario. In order for the vote to pass it will require two-thirds of the vote. A new organization name change has been an ongoing discussion for years and five-years ago the new name was proposed and defeated at an AGM five years ago.

In the age of the importance of online search, one of the biggest drivers for the proposed name change is that the current name doesn’t drive enough traffic to the OCA website compared to the search term “Ontario beef”. The proposed name change has the potential to assist the organization with enhanced online presence for Ontario beef. In addition to potential online marketing opportunities, the current name is considered by some as sexists as it refers to cattlemen, which in the name excludes women. The debate will occur and be voted on once again at this year’s AGM.

The full agenda of the AGM can be found on the OCA website.

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.