Agriculture part of Brad Wall’s victory speech

Apr 05, 2016

Wall re-elected as Premier of Saskatchewan

By Diego Flammini
Assistant Editor, North American Content
Farms.com

After Brad Wall’s third consecutive victory as Saskatchewan Premier last night, he quickly outlined a commitment to agriculture in the province.

“You can expect a government that is proud of oil and gas in this province,” he said during his victory speech. “You can expect one that is proud of mining, proud of modern agriculture, proud of crop science.”

According to Government of Saskatchewan website, the provincial government has kept more than 140 of its promises to the people of Saskatchewan under Wall’s watch since his election in 2007.

The promises include “continuing to improve crop insurance programs and other services for farmers and ranchers.”

“Since 2007, Crop Insurance Average Coverage per acre has increased 88 per cent, while funding for agriculture research has increased by 96 per cent.”

According to latest statistics, agriculture and food exports were valued at more than $15 billion in 2015 and as per the 2011 Census of Agriculture, there were 36,952 farms in Saskatchewan; the average farm size was 1,668 acres.

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.