Filling jobs and keeping the food supply safe

Apr 13, 2020

The Alberta government has launched an online resource to help strengthen the food supply chain and fill agriculture and agri-food jobs.

Keeping Alberta’s food supply chain safe and intact is a priority. The new Agriculture Jobs Connector website is a tool for Albertans to find essential agriculture work opportunities and for essential agriculture businesses to find workers.

Currently, some farms in Alberta rely on a federal temporary foreign workers (TFW) program to hire seasonal workers. However, with travel restrictions, typical users of this program are concerned about the availability of foreign workers.

With so many Albertans now out of work due to no fault of their own from COVID-19, there is an opportunity for the needs of both employers in the agriculture sector and Albertans wanting work to connect.

“There are great job opportunities on Alberta farms and ranches. There is definitely a greater appreciation for Alberta’s agriculture sector, and this new website will help Albertans find an exciting new job in this essential service.” Devin Dreeshen, Minister of Agriculture and Forestry

Agriculture and food employers and workers can access hiring, job search and farm safety resources through the new Agriculture Job Connector at alberta.ca/AgJobConnector.

Agriculture employers are encouraged to post available jobs on the connector so the positions can be filled by hard-working Albertans who will help keep the food supply chain operational.

In the U.K., due to COVID-19, thousands of seasonal foreign workers were no longer available and a “land army” of thousands of British people came out to work on farms. This website will help connect an Albertan “land army” of non-traditional agriculture workers enter a new and important labour market.

Source : alberta.ca

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.