Alberta MP Barlow Reprises Role As Ag Critic

Nov 29, 2019

Alberta (Foothills) MP, John Barlow, is excited to be taking the reins on the agriculture file.

Conservative Party Leader, Andrew Scheer, unveiled his shadow cabinet Friday, November 29, where Barlow was named Shadow Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food.

Barlow says there's numerous issues facing the agriculture sector, however there's also incredible potential.

"It's our responsibility to ensure their voices are heard, but ensuring they also have the tools that they need to succeed, whether that's trade markets, proper tax levels, but also representatives that are going to advocate for them domestically and internationally."

Working with Barlow will be the Conservative's Associate Ag Critic, Quebec MP Richard Lehoux.

Barlow most recently served as the Shadow Minister for Employment, Workforce Development and Labour, and previously worked as the Associate Ag Critic during the last term.

Barlow says he's got great resources and mentors to draw from right in his backyard, ranging former MP, and Minister of State for Finance, Ted Menzies, Provincial Agriculture Ministers George Groeneveld and Evan Berger, Ad Farm Founder, Kim McConnell, and farmers and ranchers with skin in the game.

He says the biggest frustration he's heard from stakeholders is the Liberal's inaction on industry issues.

Barlow says he will work to educate the Liberal's Agriculture Minister, Marie-Claude Bibeau, on these challenges at the forefront such as trade and the grain backlog on rail.

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.