Conservatives Question Government's Action On Canola

Mar 11, 2020

The federal Conservatives say the Liberal government’s lack of action on re-opening Canola shipments to China over the past year shows they don’t see Canada’s canola farmers and producers as a priority.

Lianne Rood, the Deputy Shadow Minister for Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, says Canadian canola and soybean producers are losing out on so much revenue.

"A billion dollars is the estimate for canola, $590 million dollars is the estimate for soybeans, because we've just seen weak leadership from Prime Minister Trudeau on this file. Where he's failed to stand up for our canola farmers and producers, and it's really unfortunate that took him over 120 days even lodged a complaint at the WTO.”

She says after China banned Canadian Canola Imports they (the Conservatives) called on the Liberals to launch a complaint with the WTO, pull Canadian funding from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and to increase inspections on all Chinese imports.

Rood notes another concern is the rail blockades here at home and the damage it caused our agriculture sector.

“It’s not just agriculture. Manufacturing and also potash is affected; $63 million a week, just for our grain sector alone is what this has caused us here domestically.”

She says another issue of concern that came up last week is the Pest Management Regulatory Agency and Health Canada’s decision to phase out Strychnine, an effective product that farmers have been using safely for decades to control the gopher population.

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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.