Shawn Brenn, a farmer near Millgrove out of Waterdown, Ontario, spends a lot of time thinking about how American tariffs will affect Ontario farms.
As president of the Association of Fruit and Vegetable Producers of Ontario and owner of Brenn-B Farms, fears that products prices will see great success in the probable case that US buyers are not willing to pay 25 percent Additional after the proposed tariffs are promulgated on March 4.
“The eighty percent of our fruits and vegetables are exported,” Brenn told CBC Hamilton last week. “It will greatly affect everyone, but especially our greenhouse sector.”
Brenn knows that negotiating tariffs is a federal problem, but says that there are things that the province can do to cushion its effects, such as programs that invest in farms and help them mitigate risk.
The province committed Additional $ 100 million In such financing in January, but it is not enough compared to agricultural subsidies in the United States, said Brenn, 46.
The leaders of the main Ontario parties have presented their ideas on how they would cushion the paralyzing coup of tariffs on the economy of the province if they are chosen on February 27.
“We have a good relationship with this government, our biggest challenge is with the budget,” said Brenn, whose main harvest is the potatoes.
“When you see ads for electric vehicles, people cannot eat electric vehicles. We need to make sure we have our own house supply.”
He is one of several farmers who expressed concern about the success of Ontario agriculture compared to the South Giant in the recent interviews with CBC Hamilton about the next provincial elections.
‘We are violating the space that is agricultural lands’
Catherine Petropoulos, a retired teacher who has poultry and egg farms with her husband, was also very aware of the support received by American farmers, who often compete directly with those just on the other side of the border.
Petropoulos, who lives in the Smithville area, south of Grimsby, in the Niagara region, said the supply management system in Canada offers farmers some protection, but has heard federal politicians Talk about discarding it over the yearsThen she always observes that problem closely.
Supply management is a system that allows specific basic products (dairy, poultry and eggs) to limit the supply of their products to which Canadians are expected to consume to guarantee predictable and stable prices. These prices are negotiated through provincial marketing joints.
The president of the United States, Donald Trump, has pressed Canada to dismantle the system to help farmers, but Petropoulos believes that it is a good system for farmers here and for Canadian taxpayers.
“They have so much dairy and milk that they end up throwing it,” Hamilton told CBC in a telephone interview, referring to production without restrictions in the US. “Uu.” When they have too much, taxpayers pay those subsidies. “
Petropoulos said that while many farmers seem to support Doug Ford and progressive conservatives, is not sure how much they are on the side of small producers.
“All the rest it has done is about large companies,” he said, noting that health education and financing are important problems for people in their area. “He talks about the little boy, but I haven’t seen that yet.”
It was also disgusted by Ford’s efforts to gut the green belt, which were invested after it was revealed that developers requested most of the plots for extraction.
In addition to the reduced area for food production, Petropoulos said that urban expansion also makes it easier for farm animals to capture diseases, and can create conflicts between farmers and urban residents who live too close to smells and flies They come with farms.
“We are violating the space that is agricultural land and should be maintained in that,” he said.
For Brian Walker, whose family has been cultivating for generations, protecting the green belt and stopping expansion is a great concern.
“There is only so much dirt in this province that we can cultivate, and they are putting houses,” he said, urging urban residents to open their minds to build higher buildings on land that is already attended. If not, “Someday we are going to pay the price,” he said.
Medical care, also important education in rural areas: farmer
Walker lives near Caledonia and raises Clydesdale horses as a retirement project, but used to have cows, and grains and wheat grew to feed them. His daughter and her husband still grow.
Like Petropoulos, he emphasized that better access and education on medical care are priorities for many rural people. And like Brenn, he cares about the next rates.
Walker says that a way in which the province could help would attract more meat processors to Ontario so that cattle do not have to cross the border.
“Have them move, give them incentives or encourage them or something,” he said. “They will build a factory if you give them difficult effective for them to feel happy.”
