Top U.S. agricultural leader offers reassurance to Ontario farmers amidst trade and tariff uncertainty

Interest is high as crowds tour acres of new farm equipment at Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show near Woodstock. CTV London’s Sean Irvine reports.

Interest is high as crowds tour acres of new farm equipment at Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show northwest of Woodstock.

A few farmers are in the mood to buy, but most are holding off.

“I think we’re just looking, or I am just looking anyway,” said Dale Luckhardt, a Milverton-area crop farmer.

Ongoing trade tensions with the United States have impacted the prices of some American-produced farm equipment and parts.

Add in commodity market uncertainty, and some farmers are opting to stay on the sidelines.

“You watch them [commodity markets]every day to see what’s going to happen. So, you know, price affects crops. It could affect machinery. It’s going to affect, you know, what you can do in the future.”

Show organizers have noticed the impact of tariffs. While the number of vendors has not fallen this year, show director Rob O’Connor states some are under pressure.

“They’re trying to keep things just in demand, just-in-time delivery. And I think that puts pressure on farmers. But you know, it’s something we’ll all get through. Farmers have had difficult situations in the past.”

The importance of agriculture on both sides of the border was highlighted at the show on Wednesday during a private meeting between Ontario’s agriculture minister and his counterparts from Pennsylvania.

Afterward, Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding told CTV News his administration chose to visit Ontario to discuss animal health, border flow and tariffs.

But the Democratic politician stated his top priority was to reassure Canadian farmers.

“I think making sure that our growers know that we are here talking about those exact things, reassuring your government, your growers, that we value them. But we want to grow, so we’ve got this temporary problem, right? We’ve got to come to some agreement on how to manage the tariffs.”

Ontario Agriculture Minister Trevor Jones welcomed the pledge and spoke of positive U.S. relationships.

I wouldn’t say there’s a problem with our American counterparts. You know, there are some issues at the top, but the values overlap so well. You’ll hear that from Secretary Reddy. The values are here because our values haven’t changed.”

Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show runs through Thursday.