We asked SW Ontario grain farmers: What’s at stake in this trade war?

Article content

Author: Beatriz Baleeiro

Article content

Article content

London, Ontario. – Ontario Cereal Growers – Amid a firefighting in Canada’s trade war with the United States and China, gathered at Royal Bank of Canada in London on Tuesday for the annual spring meeting.

From the meeting organized by Ontario’s grain farmers, the highest was the U.S. tariffs on Canadian cereals and cereal products worth 17 billion CAD and on Canadian canola oil and peas starting April 2, worth 100% CAD and $1.7 billion.

Article content

Postmedia’s London Free Press asked six farmers what dangers they had to them as they placed their crops more and more on the ground

.

Leroy Bryan, Blydale Farm in Grandton, north London,
Who grows corn, wheat and soybeans

Brian said the 25% tariff in the U.S. is “unnecessary and unreasonable.” The loss of building a good relationship with the United States is also a focus of Brian, who said trust will be difficult to rebuild.

He said: “(Tariffs) don’t seem to make any sense.

“It takes a long time to build these relationships.

As for how tariffs affect his agricultural operations, Brian said they could lead to loss of income, increase risk in the cereal market and “severely hurt” the younger generation of farmers who may not be prepared for uncertainty.

Brian Hyland of Hylander Farmer, Essex
Who grows corn, wheat and soybeans and raises beef cattle

Hyland said the looming tariffs were “worrying and there were a lot of unknowns” that caused him to stop all investments in the stock market and instead buy more land.

Article content

Article content

“We hope that the land will never disappear…we can always work hard and have business work. ” he said.

“I will never use (the funds) unless I really have to. We only make improvements to replacement parts. Keep things moving, but nothing new. ”

“I will not spend any money to improve my capital until I know my place in this ever-changing world.”

Brad Podolinsky by Alvinston Podolinsky Farms,
Who grows corn and soybeans

“It would be really good if the tariffs go away,” Podolinsky said, but if implemented, things could become “ugly and ugly”, which increases costs and lower grain sales.

“I’m not that worried this year, but if it continues, next year will definitely be a tough year.”

We’ve already purchased a lot of things like seeds and fertilizers up front…but 2026 might be another story. ”

Strict profit margins, if there is “capitality”, Podolinsky Say, it is the main source of attention.

“It may not be anything at the end of the day.”

Matt Lennan Farms of Lambton County,
Who grows corn, soybeans and wheat

Article content

Lennan said he guaranteed crops this year and shrinked fertilizers, fertilizers and crops ahead of schedule.

“But if this tariff problem lasts for a few more years, it’s definitely more difficult to lock in profits over the long term,” he said. “It’s like the cost of input and then if crop prices keep falling…it’s going to make margins tighter, but I think that’s actually out of control.”

As for how financial pressures affect his business over the long term, Rennan said he may not be able to live on the farm. “us It may have to resort to finding other sources of income (similar things) to try to cover everything. ”

Burton McKinlay of Thames McKinlay Farm
Who grows wheat, corn and soybeans

McKinley said the upcoming tariffs would be “a bit painful” but he thinks Canada will look different, perhaps depending on how the country responds.

“Anyway, it hurts the wallets because we’re signing tariffs on them, they’re paying tariffs on us, so the prices go up,” he said. “These are all kinds of things we don’t know, we just sit down and want to know what it will be like.

Article content

Ken Dawson of Ken Dawson of the Chatham-Kent-Essex border,
Who planted flowers, wheat, soybeans and corn

Dawson He sold all soybeans in stock last week due to uncertainty over the tariffs.

“I’m very worried,” he said.And no one knows what Trump is going to do tomorrow or even next door.

“So how do you plan?”

bbaleeiro@postmedia.com

Article content