DAIRY FARMERS OF CANADA SUPPORTS ESTABLISHMENT OF A 'GROCERY CODE OF CONDUCT'

Dairy Farmers of Canada welcomes with great interest the ‘Grocery Supply Code of Practice for Canada’ proposed by Food, Health & Consumer Products of Canada (FHCP) and Empire Company Limited. If adopted, a code of conduct of this nature would bring greater balance to supplier-retailer relationships, improve competition in the grocery retail environment, and foster greater collaboration throughout the food supply chain.

 

In recent years, some retailers have increased pressure on suppliers by imposing arbitrary and unreasonably harsh fees and penalties and making unilateral changes to supply agreements. If left unchecked, these practices could hamper product innovation, reduce product variety, and generate unnecessary costs, with a negative impact on dairy farmers, processors, independent grocers and consumers alike.

 

Countries such as Australia, Ireland and the United Kingdom have already recognized the benefits of adopting such codes of conduct, which promote transparency, predictability and openness in the food supply chain.

 

Dairy Farmers of Canada is supportive of this kind of proposal and expresses its desire to participate in any future consultations on this issue.

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.