Barlow Expects To Lose Ag Critic Role

Aug 31, 2020

A new Conservative leader means a new shadow cabinet.

Alberta (Foothills) MP John Barlow, who backed Peter MacKay in the leadership race, doesn't expect to remain the agriculture critic.

"Honestly I don't expect to hang on to that position, usually the new leader is going to bring in their own team and you kind of understand that, that's how this thing works," he says.

He feels confident with what his team's done.

"Our team has shown ourselves to be very strong advocates and I'd like to think we've done a very good job and certainly the feedback we've had from stakeholders and people we've worked with, we've been a very strong voice for agriculture."

Barlow says he remains the Member of Parliament for the Foothills riding and that will remain his number one priority.

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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.