FarmGate 5: Resilient Response to COVID-19

BURLINGTON, ON – Ontario’s supply managed dairy and poultry farmers are working together to support a strong supply chain and ensure consumer access to locally-grown, high quality products during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

 

In a series of FarmGate 5 meetings, leaders of Ontario’s supply management farmer associations met with representatives from the Ontario Farm Products Marketing Commission (OFPMC), as well as Dr. John Kelly, the new Deputy Minister for the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA), to discuss challenges and opportunities facing the sector, and to highlight key performance areas during the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

“Like many others in the agriculture community, Ontario’s supply managed sector has observed that Ontario consumers have adjusted where and what they eat, which has resulted in the need to adjust the volumes and the types of products we produce,” said Ed Benjamins, Chair of Chicken Farmers of Ontario. “Farmers in the supply management sector are doing their part to manage the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, and have done so willingly, in order to ensure a steady supply of locally-grown, high quality products for consumers and food banks.”

 

FarmGate 5 is an alliance that brings together Ontario’s five dairy and poultry farmer organizations to address and advance common priorities in the supply management sector.

 

“Under the responsible supply management system, FarmGate 5 Boards have the regulatory powers necessary to individually act quickly, monitor and respond to changes in the market, adjust supply where necessary, and work with industry stakeholders to strengthen supply chain resiliency,” said Rob Dougans, President and CEO of Chicken Farmers of Ontario. “Our paramount priority is the health and safety of farmers, processors, and workers in all parts of the Ontario supply managed food value chain.”

 

Working together, FarmGate 5 is focused on supporting the people and jobs in Ontario’s supply managed agriculture business, and reassuring Ontario consumers that they can rely on a steady supply of safe, healthy, high quality, locally-grown dairy, poultry and egg products.

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.