NFU Hosts 50th Annual Convention In Winnipeg

The National Farmers Union (NFU) held its 50th Annual Convention this week in Winnipeg at the Canad Inns Polo Park.

 

The theme this year was Farmers on the Front Line: Celebrating 50 Years Of The Farm Movement Katie Ward of Ontario was acclaimed as NFU President.

 

katie ward small NFU President Katie Ward

 

"We had some great looks back at our roots and some inter-generational knowledge sharing," she said. "We have so many young members here and young families. Reconnecting across those generations about the fights that we've engaged in and the way that the NFU has always stood for fairness and re-energizing folks for looking at the next 50 years."

 

Ward notes the general farm organization is currently focused on a number of key issues.

 

"The biggest one that we're talking about is climate change," she explained. "We have a lot of young farmers here this week and they're really focused on what that's going to do. The land access for young farmers, prices are constantly an issue, market access and increasing more local food infrastructure so that we can look at that value added component and try to keep more food dollars on the farm."

 

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.