Rail Protests Continue to Affect Canada's Economy

Feb 21, 2020

Meanwhile, business groups including the President of Maple Leaf Foods, are calling on the government to take firm action and restore Canada's rail service. Curtis Frank says Maple Leaf is dependent on timely transport of its perishable products.

"The $1 billion of Maple Leafs annual revenue is subject to the timely movement of perishable product through Canada's rail network in some way. You may be wondering how many people rely on these goods. The answer is thousands. Thousands of jobs and over a billion in sales and the taxes we pay to our government are impacted by this rail disruption,"

Frank says Maple Leaf has tried to use alternatives such as trucking but many routes are already overwhelmed and costs are escalating.

He says the spot market for trucking between Winnipeg and Vancouver, for example, has nearly doubled since the blockade started.

Agriculture is also being impacted by the blockades. Mary Robinson, the president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture says backed up rail lines will have huge financial consequences as farmers don't get paid until products get to market.

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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.