Manitoba Pork holds 57th Annual General Meeting

Apr 11, 2022

Manitoba Pork held its 57th Annual General Meeting Wednesday in downtown Winnipeg.

General Manager Cam Dahl said it was encouraging to meet with producers in person once again.

"We talked a little bit about the strategic direction for Manitoba Pork," he said. "Things like public trust, how we engage with producers, and maybe some of those groups that we haven't talked with as much in the past, like the small producers but they have such an impact on biosecurity. How we're engaging with government, the things that we're doing to help ensure long term fiscal prosperity for the industry, things like access to capital and labour and some of the key issues facing producers today."

The meeting also featured presentations from Iowa Pork Producers Association and Minnesota Pork Producers Association.

"Many of the same issues are facing the U.S. producers," noted Dahl. "Some of those public trust issues with Proposition 12 in California for example or preparing for African swine fever. Labour is clearly an issue in agriculture across all of North America. We have a lot in common and maybe we should talking to each other a little bit more often."

Dr. Ryan Brook of the University of Saskatchewan also provided an update on the wild pig situation across the Prairies.

Dahl noted they had a good turnout at the meeting, which included guests from Ontario and Saskatchewan as well as the U.S.

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.