Farmers Adjusting To New Way Of Life

Mar 20, 2020

A Glenlea-area farmer says COVID-19 is still a learning process for farmers in Southern Manitoba.

"People still need to eat so that's a good thing," said Will Bergmann. "We're still hauling grain and we're still checking on pigs. I started up the greenhouse and we're going to be growing vegetables, so that hasn't changed."

He notes that self-isolation and quarantine measures are a tough topic for many.

"I don't think that a lot of farms, that I've talked to recently, have taken that seriously. Part of me thinks that this is a little bit of an over-reaction, it's a little crazy, it's a little too much. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't, but I'd much rather play on the side of being safe."

Bergmann says they have been trying to cut down to only nessesary contact with people in-person, and limiting the amount of people they let on the farm.

Fuel trucks and other deliveries to the farm are not of high concern as most don't involve contact with more than a single person.

As well, spring seeding is far enough away that he doesn't anticipate there will by many changes with how their farming operation works.

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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.