Ontario’s grain and oilseed competitiveness Sankalp Sharma Industry faces mounting challenges Ontario’s grain and oilseed farmers continue to face challenging economic conditions. Globally, grain and oilseed prices are under severe downward pressure, driven primarily by supply and demand dynamics in major producing regions. ONTARIO GRAIN FARMER 24 GOVERNMENT RELATIONS Canadian grain and oilseed farmers—who are essentially price takers and rely on Chicago futures—remain tied to the U.S. production and trade cycle. For example, the U.S. is anticipating a record corn crop this year, which is putting downward pressure on prices, while China has barely purchased any U.S. soybeans since September. As a result, a potential glut of both corn and soybeans is emerging in the North American market, and grain and oilseed prices are reflecting this future oversupply. Meanwhile, in South America, Brazil’s crop productivity continues to rise each year, and Argentina’s recent cancellation of export taxes has further added to the global supply pressures. China intends to source its purchases exclusively from South America for the foreseeable future. However, as reported in Bloomberg News, uncertainties remain about whether Brazil and Argentina alone can meet this demand. From a Canadian farmer’s perspective, these market conditions are compounded by policy disparities. The U.S. federal government— and, to a lesser extent, several state governments—have been far more proactive in providing support to their producers, whether through direct farm payments or enhancements to business risk management (BRM) programming. In addition, they have implemented several demand-enhancing measures to stabilize incomes for key field crops. For instance, the U.S. government has issued ad hoc payments, officially called the Emergency Commodity Assistance Payments (ECAP) under the American Relief Act (ARA, December 2024) and made significant improvements to its Title I commodity programs and crop insurance, both of which were included in the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB). The ECAP payments were distributed in spring 2025, followed by the OBBB in July 2025, and another round of ad hoc payments—estimated at approximately $15 billion—is expected this fall. These new payments, targeted primarily at soybean producers (and to a lesser extent, corn and wheat growers), could reach up to $105 per acre. In addition, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed increasing the biomass-based diesel (BBD) renewable
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