Dairy Industry Not Impacted By Post-Brexit Trade Deal

Canada and the United Kingdom have hammered out a post-Brexit trade deal.

 

Dairy Farmers of Canada Vice-President David Wiens talked about how will this impact Canada's dairy industry.

 

"We were very concerned that dairy might be implicated in that but we are pleased to see that the government has excluded dairy imports in that particular trade agreement. Now we know that it's an interim agreement that is renewed in three years. That gives them time to negotiate."

 

Wiens commented on dairy products that are coming into Canada from the United Kingdom.

 

"Part of it was that the UK had a portion of what was given to the EU, while they were within the [European] Union. So then it would have been up to the UK to negotiate something with the EU in terms of whatever they had in that trade agreement with Canada and other agreements for that matter. My understanding is that they have not had those kind of negotiations or at least they haven't finalized any such negotiations. If they would take their portion of what was agreed to in the CETA (Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement), that would be one thing, but they haven't done that. The Canadian government hasn't opened up any additional market access for the UK, anything that's been given beyond the CETA agreement."

 

Wiens says under the CETA agreement, in the last three years, the import level has been as high as 99 per cent of what was allowed (5.3 million kilograms of cheese that's permitted under that agreement).

 

He notes some of the cheese processors in Canada have really struggled as a result.

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.