BEING PROACTIVE AND ENGAGED MATTERS

Jan 28, 2020

As I wrap up my first year as chair of this organization, it’s never been more clear that being proactive and engaged matters.

Farming, as we all know, can be a precarious business. It was the weather that dominated much of our year here in Ontario and around the world, as well as global trade and political uncertainties – and while those are issues beyond the control of the individual grower, what we can have some influence over is how government and industry respond during times of crisis.

That’s where lobbying and proactive relationship building is invaluable, and that’s where the OFVGA has been concentrating the vast majority of its efforts provincially and federally this past year.

Provincially, it was a year of laying ground work as the Conservative government moved ahead with changes on many fronts and marked its first full year in office. A shuffle of cabinet ministers meant new faces in many of the portfolios of interest to fruit and vegetable growers.

We held two lobby days at Queen’s Park, one in April 2019 and one in November 2019 when we proactively met with politicians, their staff and bureaucrats to introduce them to OFVGA and what the fruit and vegetable sector represents to Ontario’s economy.

Source : OFVGA

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.