McDonald's Canada Is Going Back To 100 Percent Canadian Beef

One of the biggest backers of Canadian beef says it's returning to 100 percent Canadian beef next month.

 

McDonald's had to look for other sources of beef for its restaurants earlier this year, after outbreaks of COVID 19 at two major packing plants in Alberta. The shutdown of the Cargill plant in High River for two weeks led to a shortage of available beef and Mcdonald's had to find sources outside the country to fill the needs of its restaurants. But now that plants are back up to full slaughter capacity, a spokesman says the restaurants will once again be serving 100 percent Canadian sourced beef, starting again in September.  

 

Despite the sourcing issues because of COVID, more than 80 percent of the restaurant chain's beef supply was met by Canadian sources during the worst of the pandemic. There is still no word on when McDonald's will reinstate their full menu as it has been reduced due to the pandemic.

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.