Manitoba First Province To Implement Organic Check-Off

Sep 03, 2021

Manitoba is the first province to implement a check-off for organic farmers.

Karen Klassen is program manager for the Manitoba Organic Alliance (MOA).

"In 2019, Manitoba Organic Alliance, with the support of its producer and organic members, put in an application for the check-off regulation," she said. "We've had consultations with growers to find out where they want the money spent, how they they want it spent and have been doing a lot of work in the run-up to it actually being made a regulation in the last month."

The regulation, registered under the Agricultural Producers Association Funding Act, enables MOA to collect a 0.5% check-off on designated organic cereals, oilseeds and pulses grown in Manitoba.

The check-off became law on August 12th.

Klassen says producers have the option to opt-out, by filling out a refund form.

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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.