The Plant Protein Alliance Of Alberta Has Ended

A cut in provincial funding means the end of the Plant Protein Alliance of Alberta.

 

It was formed about 3 years ago and was expecting to get its annual grant of 250 thousand dollars from the provincial government this year. As recently as last month, the Alliance was told the money was coming. But by the end of March, they were told there was no funding coming. It had no choice but to shut down. Some of the work the Alliance did over the past three years was to help new agricultural companies grow and navigate government red tape.

 

Postmedia received an email from Alberta agriculture and Forestry saying the alliance did great work over the past few years and we thank them for their efforts. There have been ongoing cuts to the ag department for the past two years, resulting in hundreds of jobs lost as the government hands over the responsibility of ag research to the private sector.

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.