Conservatives Calling The Liberals To Task On Agriculture

Dec 06, 2019

As Parliament resumes, Foothills MP, John Barlow, is already hard at work advocating for the agriculture sector.

Barlow, who's the Conservative Party's newly appointed Shadow Minister of Agriculture, along with Conservative Associate Ag Critic, Richard Lehoux, sent a letter to the Liberal's Agriculture Minister calling for immediate action on the file in areas such as the Canola trade spat with China.

In the letter to Minister Marie Claude-Bibeau, they say while Canadian canola sits in the bins across Canada, the Government's support has been "underwhelming".

"There is no reason why it should have taken months for your government to follow through on the Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer's call to take the Chinese government to the WTO (World Trade Organization)," the letter reads.

They say in order to reverse the trend, the Liberals must act on the Conservative's recommendations.

The outlined recommendations in the letter include the Government's immediate withdraw from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, to increase inspections on all Chinese imports and examine possible retaliatory tariffs on Chinese imports.

The letter highlights a number of other actions they'd like the government take, such as providing compensation for supply managed sectors, reduce taxes and support farmers with mental health challenges.

"You can take these mental health issues seriously by first addressing the review of the Business Risk Management which is critical," the letter says.

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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.