International Trade Key Election Focus For Conservatives

Sep 08, 2021

The Conservative Party of Canada has outlined its agriculture platform for the upcoming federal election, taking place September 20th.

John Barlow is a candidate in the riding of Foothills, Alberta, and says international trade will be a key focus.

"We want to open new markets for livestock, grain, oilseed producers. Some of the amazing products that we're developing and processing here in Canada. We have seen the failure of the Liberal government and the impact that it has had on our access to critical markets like India, like China, like the European Union, where we have not been able to take advantage of free trade agreements in place or failed to be able to negotiate new free trade agreements."

Barlow says its also important that there is dependable infrastructure to meet those new markets when they become available, including access to rail, highways, terminals, and the coast line to ensure that when the agreements are in place that farmers can access them.

Other priorities for the Conservatives include reforming the Business Risk Management Program, modernizing the Canadian Grain Act and the Canada Grain Commission, and coming up with a compensation package for supply managed operations as a result of trade agreement that have been signed.

The Canadian Federation of Agriculture will be hosting a National Agriculture Leader's Debate on Thursday, September 9th starting at 7pm EDT.

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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.