Federal Ag Minister's Pleased With FPT Progress On AgriStability

Mar 30, 2021

Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau is very happy with the progress that was made during last week's Federal, Provincial and Territorial Agriculture Ministers meeting.

The Province's agreeing to parts of Ottawa's proposal from November, which will see AgriStability's Reference Margin Limit removed and a decision to make it retroactive to 2020.

Bibeau says she is disappointed that they could not reach an agreement on increasing AgriStabilitys compensation rate to 80%.

The Province's and the agriculture sector are calling on Ottawa to leave it's 60% share of the proposed increase on the table, so Province's can top it up if they are able too.

Bibeau notes that's not how the program works and all provinces originally agreed to it.

"The rule is if we want to make a change, we have to contribute the federal 60%, the provinces 40%, and we have to reach a consensus of at least two thirds of the provinces in terms of participation as well."

Another key change the province's did agree to was extending the AgriStability sign up deadline to June 30th.

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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.