Agriculture could add $11B a year to Canada’s GDP by 2030

Aug 29, 2019

SASKATOON –– A new report says Canada’s agriculture industry could add $11 billion annually to gross domestic product by 2030 if government invests in people and technology.

A report from RBC says the sector is on track to raise output from about $32 billion today to $40 billion in 2030, but could grow up to $51 billion instead if governments provide funds to fix an impending labour shortage and to boost innovation.

The report anticipates the industry will be short 123,000 workers by 2030, and anticipates farmers will need highly specialized skill sets in the future to manage automated and technologically heavy operations.

It calls on the government to invest more in education, as well as rethink agricultural education and complementary fields, like computer science.

Click here to see more...

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.