U.S. Dairy Exports a Sustainable Success, USDEC’s Harden Says

Apr 27, 2021

A career devoted to agricultural sustainability – capped by a stint as the U.S. Deputy Secretary of Agriculture – has prepared new U.S. Dairy Export Council President and CEO Krysta Harden well for her new role. Dairy’s stewardship at home is a powerful message to boost sales abroad, she says – and that story is becoming ever-more-important to hear as dairy’s critics try to shape global agriculture.

“Our future is exciting,” she said. “I think we have great products. I think our farmers are the most productive in the world. They’re ready to meet the challenges of the world. And there’s a great demand for what we produce. And so we’ve got to be there, we’ve got to be in those markets, we’ve got to be building trust, building our reputation, building our image.”

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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.