University of Guelph Names New Ridgetown Campus Director

May 07, 2013

The University of Guelph – Ridgetown Campus has named Ken McEwan as the new director for a five-year term, which began May 1. McEwan will be succeeding Art Schaafsma, who served as director from 2007 to 2011.

Rob Gordon, Dean of the Ontario Agricultural College (OAC) says the Ridgetown community is excited about McEwan’s vision. McEwan has been acting as interim director since Jan. 1, 2012. Prior to that, he was the research co-ordinator at Ridgetown. The director position entails overseeing 120 faculty and staff and an annual budget of $18.5 million.

McEwan has a long history with the college, joining in 1990 as a professor in production economics and agribusiness and teaching at the University of Guelph’s main campus in the Department of Food, Agriculture and Resource Economics. In a press release, McEwan said that it is a privilege to be given this opportunity and says he looks forward to working with community stakeholders in his new role.

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.