Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau speaks with European Union’s Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Janusz Wojciechowski

Jun 23, 2020

Ottawa, Ontario - Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau spoke with the European Union’s Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski.

Minister Bibeau and Commissioner Wojciechowski emphasized the strength of the Canada-EU relationship, especially in agricultural trade. They reiterated the need to work collaboratively to ensure a well-functioning integrated supply chain in food and food products between Europe and Canada, which is essential to safeguarding the health and wellbeing of citizens during COVID-19.

Both ministers also emphasized the need for free and open trade, especially in the current COVID-19 crisis, and benefits of the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), provisionally applied since September 2017.

In addition, Minister Bibeau emphasized that Canada and the EU need to co-operate to ensure that our farmers and processors benefit from the trade agreement, underscoring the importance of improving EU market access for Canadian agricultural products through the removal of technical barriers to trade.

Source : Government of Canada

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.