Merger Vote Happening Next Week

Feb 04, 2020

The annual CropConnect Conference takes place February 12 & 13 in Winnipeg at the Victoria Inn.

Five of the province's commodity organizations will vote on an amalgamation proposal.

Pam de Rocquigny is the general manager of the Manitoba Corn Growers Association and Manitoba Wheat and Barley Growers Association.

"It will be by secret ballot," she said. "We will have a third party scrutineer that will be taking care of that portion of business at the annual general and special meetings. Results won't be released until the end of the CropConnect Conference and that's to obviously maintain the integrity of the vote."

Other groups involved in the proposed merger include the National Sunflower Association of Canada, the Manitoba Flax Growers Association and Winter Cereals Manitoba.

Voters must be in good standing with the association for which they are casting a ballot. Two-thirds majority have to vote in favour of the proposed amalgamation, which is consistent between the five organizations. The name of the new organization, if approved, would be the Manitoba Crop Alliance.

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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.