Federal Ag Critic Back In Ottawa This Week

May 13, 2020

Federal Conservative Agriculture Critic John Barlow is back in the House of Commons this week.

In particular, he'll be dealing with issues at meetings of the Federal Agriculture Committee.

Barlow says they'll be dealing with the recently announced $252 million aid package.

"The dairy portion of that will be coming up for a vote on Wednesday, May 13. So I'll be there leading the Conservative charge on the agriculture legislation that's there. It's extremely disappointing, certainly under-whelming. But, I've got to be there to be the voice of our agriculture industry."

Barlow says the spending announced last week by the Liberals, is not new money, just a re-announced package of money already promised to farmers and producers.

"For the Minister to come out and says this is a new program or new money is just not true. This is not an extraordinary measure to deal with the financial crisis facing agriculture. So, I think this again shows the Liberal government is not taking agriculture or the financial crisis it's facing or food security very seriously."

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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.