Barlow concerned Canada not 'master of own domain' in agriculture

Nov 29, 2017

Federal Conservative's Associate Agriculture Critic John Barlow paid a visit to Canadian Western Agribition on Friday.

He says one of the key issues of concern right now is what’s happening with our trade agreements i.e. : NAFTA and the Trans-Pacific Partnership or TPP.

"My concern right now is Canada - the Liberal governmnet is not the one driving the bus on this. It is China and the United States. So instead of us being self reliant, and us being the masters of our own domain, we are too much emboldened by what China and the United States are doing. We need to go ahead with TPP-11 and the NAFTA and China years down the road."

He was impressed with the new facility, the livestock on display and the way the show has grown.

Barlow, who grew up at White City, met with Producers and Agricultural groups during his visit to talk about some of their key issues of concern.

"Some very frank discussions on what the future of our industries are. Right now we have three very tenuous trade agreements that are on the brink of being perhaps lost with the TPP 11, NAFTA, and some pulse issues with India. The tariff there and the fumigation issue. So there's a lot of concern with that, and also the tax changes that were brought forward this fall."

Source : Discoverestevan

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.