ONTARIO GRAIN FARMER MARKET DEVELOPMENT 12 continued from page 11 term. The best Ontario agriculture can do is continue to build those trade opportunities. But like it or not, geography is either this province’s greatest ally or weakness, especially considering the cost of shipping grains internationally. As Boersen notes, agribusiness trade was going on long before Trump came to power and it will continue to go on long after he's gone. As enticing an idea as increasing export opportunities or domestic demand for commodities grown in Ontario may be, there’s also the question of protecting access to those markets. That includes competing interests globally, “unscientific perspectives” (mostly among consumers) or regulations that don’t account for modern agricultural practices. Trying to build upon where the market has been and where and how it will develop within the current global environment is a noble cause. But Boersen offers a reminder that as Ontario produces more commodities, the onus is on the industry to find them a home. “I maintain the perspective that a rising tide raises all ships and expanding Canada's brand globally – whether from Ontario's perspective or from Canada’s – is going to benefit Canadian agriculture,” he says. “We can't silo ourselves from the national interests just because we have unique products in Ontario, especially with soft red winter wheat.” Nor are tariffs or other trade actions unique to the U.S. The European Union and the United Kingdom had a significant tariff on Canadian soft red wheat – until recently. That was resolved via the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between Canada and the EU and the Canada-UK Trade Continuity Agreement. In the past couple of years, Ontario wheat has begun shipping to the UK and southern Europe, primarily for feed purposes. MIXED MESSAGING For the soybean industry in Canada, market development is also not a new concept but something that predates the formation of Soy Canada in 2014. It’s now a key part of the organization’s mandate to support the industry, whether from the vantage point of its exporter members or its value-chain customers. But balancing stakeholder concerns is also challenged by information that isn’t always accurate. For instance, Brian Innes states that any Canadian goods covered in the Canada-U.S.-Mexico trade agreement do not have tariffs applied to them, including soy and soy products. “The largest uncertainties affecting Canadian soy are what the U.S.-China relationship is and what that means for U.S. soy exports to China,” says Innes, executive director of Soy Canada, adding that the U.S. is pressuring international customers. “As the largest economy in the world, the U.S. has a unique position which allows it to impose its will on others.” On a recent mission to Indonesia, Innes met customers who had signed agreements to increase purchases of U.S. soy and agri-food products. The impact of the agreements is not yet known but if followed, they would require more purchases of U.S. soy and consequently, less Canadian soy.
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