Reopening Canola Seed Access To China For Richardson And Viterra Remains A Priority

Dec 04, 2020

China has been a major focal point for the Canola Industry when it comes to market access.

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's Market Access Secretariat Kathleen Donohue told participants in the Canola Week presentations that China is a key market for the Canadian Agricultural sector.

"However, the unpredictability of the market puts our exporters at risk, puts our producers at risk. And I think highlights the need for both our governments and for industry to continue to work together to diversify export markets to be able to better weather these trade disruptions."

In March 2019 China suspended the licenses of Richardson International and Viterra to export canola seed into that country.

While other exporters are seeing some buying it's not to the level it once was.

Donohue says restoring that market access for those two companies (Richardson and Viterra) is a top priority for Canada.

"Earlier this summer Canada delivered a comprehensive report to China which included scientific findings to support the reinstatement of those two suspended companies. It's our understanding that China continues to review that investigative report."

In 2019, Canadian Canola Seed Exports were valued at just over 800 million which represented a 71% decline from 2018 levels.

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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.