A key player in federal politics announced his retirement Thursday.

Former agriculture minister Gerry Ritz is ready to spend more time with his family.

The Saskatchewan Conservative MP served as minister of agriculture from 2007 to 2015 and was responsible for the overhaul of the Canadian Wheat Board.

"We had the five year anniversary of that at the beginning of this month, and the numbers don't lie. It's been a tremendous success for farmers at large. They're doing well, they've rose to the challenge of marketing and logistics. We don't have the Wheat Board plugging the system anymore."

Another key issue that was very contentious that Ritz and his team were able to quash was the US country of origin labelling legislation.

He was instrumental in signing over 3 dozen trade agreements and says he’s disappointed in the way Prime Minister Trudeau is handling NAFTA.

Ritz was left out of Conservative Leader Andrew Sheer's new shadow cabinet.

Quebec MP Luc Berthold will replace Saskatchewan MP David Anderson as agriculture critic.