Trump tariffs, elections top of mind at Sask. agriculture summit

WATCH: Saskatchewan agricultural producers met to discuss trade, export and tariff threats at the third annual Ag summit in Saskatoon.

What was once the policy conference for the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS) has evolved into the third annual Ag Summit in Saskatoon.

This year’s event included representatives from seven agriculture industries to discuss the pressing topics on their members’ minds.

“Last year we had a livestock summit, the year before that was a grain summit,” said Bill Prybylski, president of APAS. “So this has been kind of focused on trade, obviously, because of things that are happening right now.”

The United States is Canada’s largest agricultural export market, so months of back-and-forth tariff discussions between the two countries have producers searching for clarity.

“There’s just so much uncertainty about the tariffs and how is it going to affect grain prices,” he said.

“How is it going to affect their marketing decisions and even their seeding plan? So I think we’re hoping to get some clarity today on some of those types of issues. How are the tariffs or the potential tariffs, how might they affect grain prices, and I think that’s the biggest concern for producers right now.”

The Saskatchewan Wheat Commission says the last few months have been hard on producers.

“We always deal with weather uncertainty,” said Jake Leguee, chair of the Saskatchewan Wheat Commission.

“That’s part of our lives, we know how to deal with that. We know what to expect from that and we have insurance products that help us manage that risk. It’s much more difficult to manage the type of risk that we’re dealing with right now.”

While there’s uncertainty around Canada’s trading partner to the south, China recently announced tariffs on Canadian canola products. Leguee says all these announcements are causing volatility in the marketplace.

“Canola prices have taken a substantial dive since the Chinese announcement,” said Leguee.

“We’re down about $2 a bushel from where we had been. So whether we stay there or not, it’s hard to say. But that’s an extremely painful market adjustment.”

As Canada fights a trade war on two fronts, the federal government sits in limbo during the election campaign.

Leguee says decisions made outside the farmer’s field are having a direct impact on their ability to turn a profit.

“Our government federally did put in place tariffs against one of our customers, and they retaliated,” he said. “So engagement from the federal government would be very much appreciated. We haven’t been able to have a lot of that.”

Prybylski says western farmers don’t feel as though their voice is heard in Ottawa. But with change potentially on the horizon, APAS is preparing to advocate for Saskatchewan producers.

“Even though maybe there’s nobody to listen to us right now in the federal government, we will be preparing our next moves as we go forward.”

Leguee says with seeding right around the corner, it’s likely too late to make significant changes.

“We just have to do the best we can,” he said.

“Plant a crop, give it the best chance we can, and hope that a lot of this stuff gets resolved by the time we get to harvest.”