Gerry Ritz Leads Delegation to China to Promote Canadian Agriculture

Jun 16, 2014

Federal agriculture minister Gerry Ritz is leading a delegation of more than 70 members to China this week to promote Canadian agricultural products.

About 30 agricultural groups and representatives from four provinces will be in attendance, making it the largest agricultural trade mission of its kind.

In 2013, Canadian agricultural exports to China accounted for about $5.2-billion, which represents roughly five per cent of China’s imports. But Ritz hopes to double or triple that number.

Currently, the most significant portion of Canadian agricultural export sales to China are canola products, which makes up half of all agricultural exports. In 2013 canola sales generated approximately $2.83-billion.

The trade mission is particularly important for the Canadian meat industry, who are looking for more market opportunities, as the U.S. country-of-origin (COOL) meat labelling rules have made it difficult to export Canadian livestock products south of the boarder. And since COOL was first introduced in 2008, it has reduced Canadian meat exports by half.

Ritz would like to see meat shipments to China expanded. At this time, only boneless beef from animals under 30 months of age are accepted. China is expected to double its global beef imports over the next five years, making it an even more attractive market.

The same is true for the Canadian pork industry. In 2013 pork sales to China topped a quarter of a billion dollars. Chair of the Canadian Pork Council, Jean-Guy Vincent, praised the federal government’s efforts to focus on expanding export markets for Canadian pork products.

Ritz is scheduled to deliver a keynote address to delegates of the World Meat Congress in Beijing.

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.