Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance Names New President

Oct 10, 2019

A beef producer from Southern Ontario has been named the new President of the Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance (CAFTA).

Dan Darling previously served as CAFTA Vice President, and says the role is also a seamless transition from his recent days as President of the Canadian Cattlemen's Association from March 2016 to March 2018.

"CAFTA is centered around trade opportunities for members, much like when I was with the Canadian Cattlemen's," He said. "No matter whether it's cattle, or grains, or sugar, the only way our producers do well is by having trade deals that put an added value on our product."

Darling takes the reins from previous President, Brian Innes, who is the Canola Council of Canada Vice President of Public Affairs.

Darling adds, the group is excited about the progress on some trade deals and are looking forward to future agreements.

"Looking forward to the Canadian-Mexico-U.S. trade deal to be ratified...Certainly some of the other trade deals that have been put in place hopefully will pay more dividends for producers as well."

Darling runs a 300 head commercial cow-calf operation and backgrounds cattle together with his brother, as well as a purebred Limousin herd with his wife and three daughters.

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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.