Beef emerges as the winner in renewed Canada-Chili deal

May 30, 2013

Beef emerges as the winner in renewed Canada-Chili deal

Canadian beef seeks to benefit from the renewed Canada-Chile Partnership Framework that was signed on Thursday. Canadian beef exporters will now have full access to the Chilean market. Access to the Chilean beef market is worth C$5 million a year, which Harper says has the potential to double over the next three-years. This marks the end of a 10-year-old ban on Canadian beef imports, after the discovery of BSE in 2003.

A news release issued by the Prime Minister’s Office says “Building upon our recently agreed reciprocal access for beef and beef products, Canada and Chile will foster trade in this sector. Canada and Chile will identify and advance their cooperation in areas of mutual interest, which may include innovation, genetics, climate change and new pathogens, and research on renewables including bio-based energy and biotechnology.”

The partnership between the two countries also includes agreements on education, energy, mining, science and technology.

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.