Manitoba Ag Minister Weighs In On TPP

Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) talks were up in the air this week, stirring up more conversation about supply management in Canada. The provinces have been weighing in on the talk, with Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall publicly supporting the massive trade deal on Facebook, while the Ontario government is a little more anxious, having written a letter to federal Trade Minister Ed Fast in regards to concerns about the automotive and agricultural sectors.

 

Agriculture ministers from Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick also went to Atlanta this week to express their concerns about the TPP.

 

While Manitoba is not at the negotiating table, Agriculture, Food, and Rural Development Minister Ron Kostyshyn says it is important to support the TPP, but not at the expense of Canadian dairy farmers.

 

"We felt as government that we needed to say supply management is very key. The other thing that's very key is that it's locally processed food," he says in a conference call Friday morning. "It's an economic drive to the province of Manitoba and also an added value of opportunities."

 

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.