Wynne Leaves Ag Portfolio in Post-Election Cabinet Shuffle

Jun 24, 2014

Jeff Leal Named Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne announced a new agriculture minister Tuesday.

Wynne had a major cabinet shuffle following her 58-seat majority victory in the June 12 provincial election. And the agriculture portfolio goes to Peterborough MPP Jeff Leal, a familiar face in the agriculture community.

Leal previously held the Rural Affairs, when the portfolio was split into two, in order to allow Wynne to take on the role as Minister of Agriculture and Food for a year, a promise that she made during her Liberal leadership bid in 2013. She doubled as premier and minister of agriculture from February 2013 until June 2014.

Farm Lobby Group Welcome Leal

The province’s largest farm lobby group, the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA), says it is supportive of the post-election cabinet shuffle, adding that it welcomes returning Minister Jeff Leal to his expanded portfolio as Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA).

“As former Minister of Rural Affairs, Leal is familiar with both the rural and agricultural landscape,” OFA said in a release.

In addition to working with the Agriculture Minister, OFA says it is committed to working with other key members of the new cabinet, especially with respect to campaign promises made during the election. The farm organization notes that it will work with the following ministers tied to its priority areas:

Brad Duguid (Minister of Economic Development) – expanding natural gas infrastructure
Dr. Eric Hoskins (Minister of Health) and Liz Sandals (Minister of Education) – introducing food literacy/nutrition into the school curriculum
Ted McMeekin (Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing) – reviewing the Greenbelt, Oak Ridges and Niagara Escarpment Plans
Reza Moridi (Minister of Research and Innovation) – advancing agriculture research

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.