Touted as a first-of-its kind foliar-applied nitrogen, alignN 18-0-0 is formulated for nitrogen-demanding crops like canola and wheat. It gives growers the ability to apply encapsulated urea nitrogen directly onto and into the leaf, where it is absorbed for maximum intake and metabolism while reducing nutrient loss.

“Canadian growers now have a new way to protect their precious fertilizer investments,” said Norm Davy, president and chief commercial officer for Tidal Grow AgriScience.

“Our precise formulation of alignN allows nitrogen to bond electrostatically to the plant, helping keep it available under challenging conditions and reducing losses from volatilization, leaching, and runoff.”

The company said AlignN demonstrated effective in-season nitrogen response on wheat with up to 22 increase increase in flag-leaf diameter, a boost in protein content, and increased yield by up to seven per cent, with net returns offering $10-$25 per acre. This despite “extreme drought” conditions.

Similar results appeared in canola trials with increased yield of up to 10 per cent and more than one per cent boost in oil content, with net returns of $15-$35 per acre.

AligN is compatible with most herbicides, fungicides, and other nutrient inputs.

The post New foliar-applied nitrogen enters Canadian market appeared first on Country Guide.

“It was a bit of a sleepless night at the end of the day, but in the morning we were extremely happy we were able to reduce the tariffs on Canadian canola,” said Andre Harpe, chair for Alberta Canola.

Canada expects its second-largest trading partner to lower combined tariff levels to 15 per cent from 84 per cent and remove anti-discrimination tariffs from canola meal, peas and seafood.

Harpe said when they saw agriculture minister Heath Macdonald and Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe on the trip, it seemed like a good indication a deal was in the works.

“We also realize international trade is international trade and until the announcement came up, I was on pins and needles,” Harpe said.

Need for domestic market

Harpe said the past rollercoaster year of trade with China has reinforced the need for a domestic market to insulate from future trade wars.

“We can’t let this happen again. We have to work on how to increase our domestic market through biofuels,” Harpe said.

Alberta Canola will continue talks on the topic with the Alberta and federal governments.

Harpe added that the tariff situation with China was created politically. However, the Carney administration seems to be working hard to right the wrong.

“We are very appreciative of it,” he said.

There are 14,000 farmers in Alberta who grow canola on 6.7 million acres according to Alberta Canola stats. In Alberta, canola production rose 13.4 per cent to 6.3 million tonnes, according to Nov. 2025 numbers.

The post Alberta Canola applauds China deal, calls for greater domestic consumption appeared first on Country Guide.

The caucus meeting identified nine changes to boost the national economy to be advocated to Prime Minister Mark Carney, with some including gaining full access to energy corridors across the nation, repealing Bill C-69, lifting the tanker ban off the B.C. coast, eliminating the oil and gas emissions cap, scrapping net zero regulations, ending the designation of plastics as toxic and returning the oversight of carbon taxes to the provinces.

‘Ottawa should stop interfering’

“We are here today as a united caucus because we have decided enough is enough. Development of provincial resources is a provincial responsibility and that includes the development of our transmission and electricity grids,” said Alberta Premier Danielle Smith at the follow-up press conference.

“Ottawa should stop interfering because we believe Alberta and Saskatchewan have an opportunity to speak with one voice outlining the vision for our country, and we can call for a country that works for all of us.”

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe brought up Bill C-5 as proof of the need to legislate around current cumbersome regulatory processes.

“It’s an admission this hard work does have to happen. We have been supportive in prioritizing projects in the short term, which is really a stop gap to fixing the entirety of the regulatory process that we have in Canada, so that all projects can move forward,” said Moe.

Need for port-to-port corridor

“In Saskatchewan we don’t have one, or two or three projects that are a priority, we have literally in excess of 100 projects.”

The premiers echoed the importance of a port-to-port corridor connecting Western Canada to Hudson Bay for accessing Asian and European markets, which would benefit both provinces by increasing oil prices, freeing up rail capacity and enhancing egress to the U.S. The initiative aims to create long-term wealth for centuries, and strategic advantages for Canada.

“That opportunity has to be for all products,” said Moe.

Improving access with the national corridor would free up rail capacity for agri-food products, including potash, for Alberta and Saskatchewan. Approximately 94 per cent of Canada’s grain exports are transported by rail, with 75 per cent of the fertilizer produced and used in Canada moved by rail.

The post Alberta and Saskatchewan call for stop to federal interference in provincial resources appeared first on Country Guide.

Agriculture minister RJ Sigurdson was on hand on at Farming Smarter’s two-day field school to announce a one-time capital grant of $3.2 million to Alberta’s 12 applied research associations (ARAs).

It will allow them to focus on research into the adoption of new technology and practices.

ARAs are regional, non-profit organizations that conduct research and extension activities tailored to the specific needs of producers in their respective areas.

“The associations can extend the life of their facility’s infrastructure and equipment and reduce their operating costs,” said Sigurdson.

“The funding is intended to support agricultural research and improve competitiveness. Agricultural research in Alberta leads to tangible benefits for farmers that include higher profits and ample food supply at an affordable cost for consumers.”

Sigurdson said Canada is only one of five net-exporting countries in the world. The minister referred to Alberta and Saskatchewan as the bread basket feeding the world.

“Estimates are the global food demand will rise anywhere from 65 to 85 per cent by mid century. More and more countries are going to continue to look towards our provinces to feed the world, and research is going to be key to continuing to support our farmers and ranchers in the incredible work they do every year.”

Farming Smarter used its part of the capital grant to purchase a tractor to expand its capacity for irrigated crop research, specifically in potato agronomy. Alberta has surpassed Prince Edward Island as the country’s largest potato producer.

The province exported $930 million in processed potatoes in 2024, Sigurdson said.

“Alberta is an agricultural powerhouse. They proudly produce about one-fifth of Canada’s ag exports. With potato production contributing billions per year to Alberta’s economy, applied research associations play a vital role in supporting farmers and ranchers with top-notch research that helps producers improve and advance agriculture in Alberta,” he said.

The post Farming Smarter receives financial boost from Alberta government for potato research appeared first on Country Guide.

Under multiple American administrations, John Sitilides has served as southern Europe regional co-ordinator at the U.S. State Department’s Foreign Service Institute. For 17 years he has been training American diplomats and foreign policy professionals.

Sitilides, who is the principal at Trilogy Advisors in Washington, D.C., specializes in U.S. government relations, geopolitical risk and international affairs.

The graduate of Columbia University who holds a master’s degree in international and public affairs first met Donald Trump in 1986 when he first launched his career in New York, and has followed him in the decades since, especially over the last 10 years over his two presidencies.

“I don’t pretend to know how the man thinks. I don’t read anyone’s mind, but we try to divine where he’s going and how he’s thinking by his statements, by his actions and by the patterns that we see in these last 46, 47 days, and, of course, by his first term” said Sitilides in some of his opening statements to his presentation, Trump & the World: The New Geopolitics of Trade, Energy, Diplomacy, and War.

“He does very much view the world and America’s relations with countries around the world from a very sort of narrowly cast dynamic of trade imbalances. He sees here that the U.S. continues to suffer massive trade deficits with so many economies around the world.”

Trade deficits—by the numbers

The trade deficits, using 2024 numbers, include China ($270.4 billion), Mexico ($157.2 billion) and Canada ($54.6 billion), as well as members of the European Union — Ireland ($80.5 billion) and Germany ($76.4 billion).

Canada is in Trump’s crosshairs despite being ninth on the list of U.S. trade deficits and the second smallest of America’s major trading partners after France.

The U.S. trade deficit with Canada is one-fifth the size as the deficit with Mexico and one-eighth the size with China. For manufacturing, the U.S. is a net exporter of goods to Canada.

“Those are, of course, the four main states of Trump’s so-called tariff strategy. To the degree that there is a singular strategy, there may be different ones for North America, for the EU and for China, and those will play out at different stages over the next several months,” said Sitilides.

“Trump has, in his mind, far greater leverage in trade negotiations with Canada and with Mexico, at least for the time being, than the EU or with China, given the inordinate independence of Canada’s and Mexico’s economies on trade with the United States.”

Trade deficits more than doubled

The trade deficit between the U.S. and Canada/Mexico has more than doubled from what it was when Trump began his first term as president in 2017.

The U.S. commerce department released trade figures in early 2024 that showed $220 billion in trade deficits with Canada and Mexico combined, up from $85 billion in 2017, the year Trump took office and forced the two countries into a renegotiation of the decades-old North American Free Trade Agreement.

In October 2018, when negotiations were completed to replace NAFTA with the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), Trump said, “I have long contended that NAFTA was perhaps the worst trade deal ever,” and “we have negotiated this new agreement based on the principle of fairness and reciprocity.”

Added Sitilides: “What’s interesting is that Donald Trump is a man and a leader who almost never admits a mistake, even if there is one, and this seems to me to be one inherent in the trade strategy, the tariff strategy with Canada and Mexico. He was extraordinarily proud in his first administration of replacing what he considered to be the failed NAFTA agreement (1994), with the so called (CUSMA).…

“What was supposed to be a corrective agreement under the Trump administration in 2018-19 led to a greater trade deficit on the part of the U.S., with both Mexico and Canada. Trump clearly feels that something has gone off the rails, and he needs to correct this. A large part of what is happening with Canada and Mexico, on a strategic level, is the beginning of the renegotiation of the (CUSMA), far in advance of the schedule 2026 negotiation.”

Trump looking for corrective mechanisms

The United States is Canada’s largest agricultural trading partner, buying 60.3 per cent of Canadian exports and supplying the 56.8 per cent of Canadian imports.

The three top countries targeted to date — Mexico ($30.3 billion), Canada ($28.3 billion) and China ($24.7 billion) — were the U.S.’s top three markets for agriculture exports in 2024, respectively, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation.

Canada imposed a retaliatory tariff in early March that affected $5.8 billion of U.S. agricultural products, according to Canadian trade statistics for 2024.

“I think there are some specific areas of the U.S.-Canada trade relationship. One that comes up frequently in Washington is the very significant tariffs that the Canadian government has placed on the U.S. agriculture sector for a number of years. Some of these tariffs involve triple digits,” said Sitilides.

“President Trump will look to see where there’s a corrective mechanism, whether it’s the trolling of (former prime minister) Trudeau right now or whether it’s a more serious negotiation that will play out over the next year to year and a half. We certainly have a dynamic of tremendous uncertainty regarding trade, but I would say that uncertainty is the deliberate strategy of Donald Trump in almost every aspect of America’s relations with our best friends, countries like Canada, allies and certainly with our adversaries, to keep everyone on their heels.”

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“I’ve got the sun to work with, I’ve got the atmosphere to work with and I got the ocean to work with. Those are the biggest drivers that I use,” Matt Makens told the recent Alberta Beef Conference in Calgary.

“For Western Canada, definitely the States, definitely Mexico, definitely South America, absolutely Australia, this El Niño/La Niña thing is the second biggest driver of weather. What’s number one? The earth’s tilt, seasonal change.”

What are La Niña and El Niño?

La Niña and El Niño events typically occur every two to seven years but occur on a regular schedule.

El Niño events can last for nine to 12 months but sometimes it can be for years. La Niña can last for up to three years.

El Niño refers to the above-average sea-surface temperatures that periodically develop across the east-central equatorial Pacific Ocean, while La Niña refers to the periodic cooling of sea-surface temperatures across the east-central equatorial Pacific.

Makens, who runs of Makens Weather, has presented thousands of weather forecasts and outlooks to dozens of industries since the 1990s, with a primary focus on long-term seasonal forecasts and short-term weather hazards for the agricultural industry.

His company serves global clients from Australia to Canada and throughout the United States, including CanFax, CattleFax and the National Cattleman’s Beef Association.

He said La Niña used to be a fantastic snow producer for Canada. During La Niña events, trade winds are even stronger than usual, pushing more warm water toward Asia.

Off the west coast of North America, up-welling increases, bringing cold, nutrient-rich water to the surface.

During a La Niña year, winter temperatures are usually cooler than normal in Western Canada, but not so much in recent years.

Warmer than average temperatures indicate an El Niño, while cooler than average temperatures indicate a La Niña. Their effects are close to mirror images in different parts of the world.

“If you hear La Niña in Canada, a snow producer. If you hear La Niña in Texas and Mexico, it’s drought. South America, if you’re in Brazil, northern Argentina, La Niña brings drought. If you’re in Australia, La Niña brings water a lot of the time,” said Makens.

A warming ocean

A mere fraction of a degree change in temperature in the oceans can change the impact of how moisture is spread across the landscape, changing the orientation of moisture and drought and cold and hot.

Ocean temperatures have been steadily rising for decades, with the rate of ocean warming doubling in the last 20 years.

NASA reports that the last 10 years were the oceans’ warmest decade since at least the 1800s, and 2023 was the warmest year on record for the global ocean. Satellites, buoys and other monitoring systems are used for ocean temperatures, from which meteorologists gleam information.

Makens presented decades of statistical data since the 1950s that show the extreme outcomes when La Niña and El Nino temperatures go to plus two C and minus two C . This year, the La Niña went down to -1.1 which is defined as moderate.

“It didn’t maintain. Why did we see these wild swings of cold and warm, cold, warm? It’s because the atmosphere never fully embraced this La Niña. It did it three times — September, December and February is the only (time) the atmosphere acted like La Niña. In Canada, we fluctuated between the La Niña side and the neutral sides,” said Makens.

In terms of frequency of drought, ocean data has shown since the late 1990s that droughts are going to occur more frequently and rapidly according to Makens’ models, which is part of a cycle over the last 150 years.

Soil moisture should start well

However, relief may be coming for producers, particularly those who raise cattle.

“If we are going to rebuild the herd, are we going to have the water to do it? If these things are so slow to change, how do we get that frequent moisture in across the States and in parts of the Prairies and down through Mexico, how do we get to that point?” Makens said.

“Should history repeat itself, it should be within five years. The oceans have to behave like we expect them to behave. We’ve melted a lot of ice, so that water in the ocean, that changes its salinity, it changes a lot of the characteristics of the ocean. I think what happens long term is that the frequency of these wet periods is not going to be 20 to 30 years anymore. It’s going to be shorter and we will go back to the more frequent 20 to 30 years of drought.”

He expects soil moisture to start off the spring well for producers, but it will not be sustained as the situation quickly changes going into summer.

“Your transition will be quicker to drought this year than it was last year. That also means, conversely, it will warm up faster than it did last year.”

Makens said a flash drought is characterized by a rapid onset, intensification and severity over a relatively short time frame of a few weeks.

“There will come a point in late June or July where you will hear about this drought and its impact on U.S. corn, and it will impact you as well,” said Makens.

‘Encouraging’ snowpack

He said data from the 1950s shows we should plan for another neutral La Niña pattern, similar to what was just seen in Western Canada.

“Does that mean we are going to have great snowpack? I would like to say yes, that’s usually what we get with an La Niña winter, but we need it t0 be a stronger one (La Niña).”

If La Niña holds at least into the neutral grouping, it will be advantageous for snowpack and water because colder weather will hopefully lock it rather than the radical ups and downs of the past year bringing rapid changes.

Makens said precipitation was sporadic between December and February with the mountain snowpack remaining below average. Soil moisture levels in most cases support starting the growing season on a sound footing, with data indicating a rapid decline in soil moisture in the months ahead.

During question period, producers asked about predictions further north in the province past Edmonton.

“The current snowpack is encouraging, and moisture trends will favour that area in northern parts of the province and northern Saskatchewan,” he said.

“The precipitation in those areas will be very close to pollination, whereas the south side is going to dry out too fast. So for northerners, the outlook is actually much more positive than the south.”

The post Transition to drought expected to be swifter this year appeared first on Country Guide.

In a presentation at the recent Alberta Beef Conference in Calgary, he speculated that Trump is trying to make sure the geopolitical tectonic plates move in the way he wants on a global scale.

In 2024, China had by far the largest trade deficit with the United States at a negative $295 billion, followed by Mexico at minus $172 billion, with Canada No. 9 on the list at negative $63 billion. Rounding out the list above Canada are Vietnam at negative $124 billion, Ireland at negative $87 billion, Germany at negative $85 billion, Taiwan at negative $74 billion, Japan at negative $69 billion and South Korea at negative $66 billion.

“You may be wondering why Trump isn’t focusing on Vietnam, but I think that comes down to on the geopolitical scale, Vietnam is not a big player (unlike China),” said Lawrence.

“Regionally, Canada and Mexico are in focus with Europe as well.”

A ‘back door’ to the U.S.

Canada and Mexico are the most vulnerable with tariffs because exports to the U.S. make up 25 per cent of Canada’s gross domestic product, Lawrence said.

Mexico is even more vulnerable at slightly more than 30 per cent. U.S. exports to Mexico and Canada combined are less than three per cent. Lumping Canada and Mexico along with China cuts off any “backdoor” options for the North American markets to make their way into the U.S..

“I think a lot of people were caught off guard when Canada was grouped in with the initial trade threats, but I think there was a very clear reason why,” said Lawrence. “If you put 20 per cent on China and don’t put anything on Canada or Mexico and they don’t have tariffs with China, then you essentially just create, to put it politely, a bridge and to put it less politely, a backdoor into the U.S.”

“Certainly, in Mexico, that has been happening in recent years — a lot of Chinese investment in Mexico as a way of getting into the U.S.”

Unified against China?

Lawrence says Trump’s comments about wanting to see Canada become the 51st state should be taken metaphorically rather than literally.

Canada retaliated instantly to Trump’s tariffs, while Mexico took a more diplomatic approach. However, both have a different political environment with Canada in leadership flux because of a pending election coming soon.

“The message here, essentially, is that he wants a unified North America opposing China. My base case has always been that we won’t see lasting 25 per cent tariffs, and we will see some sort of agreement of a unified North American tariff situation facing China,” said Lawrence.

If broad tariffs are implemented, some industries will require carvouts.

“The honest truth here is the U.S. is in a much more powerful position, both structurally and cyclically, and it has a lot less to lose from the trade battle. It’s not nice, it’s not pretty, but Trump is leveraging that, essentially. But, I think enough will be done to prevent that worst-case scenario.”

CUSMA bargaining chips

Lawrence said the leverage is the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement, which is set for a joint review in July 2026. During those negotiations, tariffs can be used as bargaining chips.

“Will we see tariffs on certain industries? That is certainly possible,” said Lawrence.

He said he expected carve-outs for energy.

“When it comes to potash, the U.S. gets about 87 per cent of their potash from Canada,” said Lawrence.

“So while those outright numbers of the vulnerability might sound like the U.S. has nothing to lose here, it still has significant things to lose.”

About 15 per cent of New York’s electricity comes from Canada, he said.

The post Tariff threats called part of U.S. race with China appeared first on Country Guide.

U.S. tariffs on Canadian tariffs have now been joined by those from China.

Expected to take effect March 20, Beijing announced tariffs on select Canadian farm imports in response to Canadian duties levied last fall against Chinese electric vehicles, as well as steel and aluminum, with the biggest being 100 per cent tariffs on canola and peas and 25 per cent on pork and aquatic products.

Last year, total exports of Canadian canola seed and products were valued at nearly $5 billion, and included two million tonnes of canola meal. China is also one of Canada’s largest markets for yellow peas, importing about a half million tonnes of the legume at slightly more than $300 million in 2024, according to Pulse Canada.

The tariff announcement comes at a time when farmers are getting ready to seed this year’s crop.

Canola crushers uncertain

“It’s had a large effect on different parts of our industry, and it keeps unfolding. It’s sort of bad news after bad news in some areas. With the Chinese tariffs just coming on too and with the U.S. saying canola oil does not qualify for their their bio fuel programs, that has a big effect on canola and canola production,” said Lynn Jacobson, president of the Alberta Federation of Agriculture.

“From things that have been said and people we’ve talked to, companies that basically have been going to build some oil-crushing facilities or are in the process of building oil crushing facilities have put a hold on those things right now. That’s a big effect, because now we have to start trying to find other markets for that oil.”

Closer to home, many nations have raised the ire of U.S. president Donald Trump, the most recent being threats against the European Union of 200 per cent tariffs on alcohol if the EU does not relent on its retaliatory 50 per cent whiskey tariff.

Farmers are left trying to sift through exactly what the Americans are trying to accomplish as they add new tariffs as quickly as they pull back others.

Negotiations continue as a Canadian delegation engages in talks with its U.S. counterparts again today in Washington.

Taking out dairy the goal?

Many agriculture organizations are scratching their heads as they attempt to understand the logic behind the tariffs if closing trade deficits is a goal.

“Dairy is a classic example. They’re talking 240 to 300 per cent Trump is spouting out there (U.S. dairy tariff), but it’s not factual information,” said Jacobson. “We don’t have tariffs on that high. A lot of the stuff was moving tariff free between the countries, and he doesn’t recognize that at all.”

“Basically, his goal is just to take out the dairy industry in Canada,” he said.

One U.S. state produces more dairy than all of Canada, said Jacobson. So destroying Canadian dairy wouldn’t help many American businesses.

Tuesday saw U.S. President Donald Trump’s 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminum imports come into effect, and the next day Canada struck back with nearly $30 billion in counter tariffs, on the eve of Thursday’s Washington negotiations. Meanwhile, the Canadian ag industry is wondering when the next shoe will drop.

“It’s really hindered the process (with short and long-term planning),” said Jacobson. “Some guys I know are basically saying we’re just going to sit tight and we’re just gonna see what’s going to actually come out of this.”

“This might be a lot of rhetoric for nothing, but then it also can be the other way around, too. You read the reports out of the States, this quick changing thing I think is part of his plan to keep everybody unsettled, and so nobody knows exactly what’s going on.”

Jacobson allowed that Trump may be simply aiming to cause disruption.

“Everybody’s been saying he backs off as soon as the stock market starts to crash,” he said. “Personally, I don’t think the guy has a grasp of reality to a certain degree.”

Crisis in the cattle industry

Timing is everything in the cattle industry, which caused panic when the tariffs were first mentioned earlier this year. While domestic contracts are likely to be honoured, feedlots shipping to the U.S. have already run into trouble.

Before tariffs came in, feedlots rushed to move animals across the border.

“That disrupts animals on that end of it,” Jacobson said. “If you hang on to them, and all of a sudden a tariff comes on, you’re looking at a $3,000 animal, you’re going to lose another 25 per cent loss off $3,000.”

“There’s the animal welfare aspect, too, because you start holding animals in the feedlot. They’re on high gain, high energy diets. You got to extend them out and then you start getting overweight animals. They don’t meet the grade, so they got to get degraded.”

The will to break down barriers

Jacobson sees the crisis as an opportunity to focus more on improving inter-provincial trade and looking to pivot to other international markets.

“It (tariff threats) has galvanized Canadian producers and governments to start looking at that interprovincial trade. That’s something that we’ve talked about for 25 years,” said Jacobson. “We’ve tried to get that done, and it has always been special interest groups that always seem to have the ear of the governments that say, ‘no you can’t do that.’ But I think that’s disappearing, and hopefully that’ll continue on.”

He questioned if this resolve would continue if the trade war was suddenly straightened out. While farmers are pressing for greater interprovincial trade, the industry also says it’s easier to ship to the U.S.

“So that’s the biggest fear, do those interprovincial trade agreements go on the back burner?” said Jacobson.

“What is happening now with trade, maybe, will be more the norm, maybe not as drastic, but more of the norm as we go forward. It really shows we need to diversify our markets. We need different ways of doing business.”

Jacobson noted no one has put together a comprehensive list of interprovincial trade rules that interfere with each other. There are the broad-stroke barriers in transportation and food processing that people are familiar with but there are others producers do not know about that could be removed.

“We don’t know what we’re dealing with,” said Jacobson.

Jacobson said a coordinated approach on interprovincial trade can also be expanded to include the various agricultural sectors finding common ground as they manage U.S threats.

Trade may reroute around U.S.

It’s also important that American citizens make it clear to their governors how devastating the tariffs are on both sides of the border.

“We’re really being hurt. It’s affecting jobs for some people, it’s threatened layoffs in other parts of the industry. We’ve been urging the government to take a look at the safety nets,” Jacobson said. “Maybe there’s going to have to be some changes in some of the regulations. We can really, really be hurt in many, many ways here. ”

If Trump continues to have an us-against-the-world view in international trade, it may give other nations the push to look to other markets in a unified movement. However, pivoting takes time. The grain industry ships about 30 per cent of its crop into the U.S., but there is demand for the product elsewhere.

“There is a danger that in the long run, the U.S. is isolating itself, and people are just going to go around it and ignore them,” said Jacobson.

“What really needs to happen is their Senate and their Congress needs to stand up and start saying, ‘no, you can’t do some of this stuff,'” he added. “You need to have some of those Republicans in the houses start saying something to get some bills passed instead of just letting Trump walk away and do what he wants.”

The uncertainty continues as Canada waits to see what the U.S. does next.

“Nobody really, really knows exactly what is happening,” Jacobson. “They do know prices are going to fall on our raw commodities.”

“I’m like everybody else — what’s coming next?”

The post Alberta farm leader hopes for stronger trade once dust settles appeared first on Country Guide.

That was certainly the case at the Alberta Beef Industry Conference in Calgary with murmurs during networking sessions among producers, at annual general meetings and as a topic of discussion with multiple keynote speakers during the three-day conference.

“”One of the first things I’m telling folks across the industry, whether it’s cattle producers in the U.S., Canada or Mexico, the only thing we know for certain right now is this is going to add volatility and uncertainty to an already volatile and uncertain market environment,” said Lance Zimmerman, a senior beef analyst for the North American market for RaboResearch Food and Agribusiness, during Day Two of the conference on Wednesday.

“As we look at that volatility, a market that moved 10 per cent 20 years ago may of cost us about $60 to $80 a head. A value swing today at 10 per cent move in the market is worth $300 a head U.S. — add time-and-a-half to get to a Canadian value in terms of currency adjustment.”

Focus on risk management

With the sheer dollars invested in cattle today at nearly $4,000 a head , according to Zimmerman, a heightened focus must now be put on risk management.

Many people think of risk management in terms of contracts and the futures and options markets, but Zimmerman said it goes beyond that to include making sure all the bases are covered.

“One aspect of it is markets and financial risk. Another aspect of risk management is production risks, and then the very real risk that is being presented now is institutional risk from a government standpoint,” said Zimmerman.

“There are certain things we can control. We can’t control the markets, we can’t control drought, we can’t control a tariff, but there are things we can do to mitigate those risks.”

‘Lean on your network’

As the North American markets are feeling it out together, Zimmerman is encouraging producers to be hyper-vigilant in keeping up their communication as tense negotiations evolve daily in hopes to a quick end to the trade war.

“Get on the phone and really lean on your network right now. If you are on the feed yard side and you’re buying feeder cattle and calves out of the U.S. and bringing them up there, have discussions with your partners you’re buying from,” said Zimmerman.

While discussions have been heated and tense between Trump and prime minister Justin Trudeau in the early days of the trade war, Zimmerman has heard a general spirit of wanting and willing to work together among producers in the last 48 to 72 hours since the tariff announcement.

It is apparent in the Alberta beef industry that producers realize how small and tight-knit the industry is, a commonality shared across the U.S. border. A lot of fed cattle come out of the Alberta region and go into Pacific Northwest in the United States and a lot of dairy cattle are going from the U.S. into Canada.

‘Short-term’ tariff pains

“There are some short-term pains we are going through. For instance, I’m hearing instances of certain commodities that thought they could cross across the border today (Wednesday) and they are not able to. Whether that was mushrooms, or beef or other widgets, we are hearing a lot of instances of these things were priced pre-tariff and now the buyer isn’t just willing to write a cheque 25 per cent higher,” said Zimmerman.

“We have to work through those short-term pain points and no one knows really how to navigate this because the details are still flowing in in real time. We are specifically at a point in the cattle cycle today where we realize we’ve become a very much North American beef industry. We have our regional differences, but that’s no different in talking about the Pacific Northwest versus Texas, versus the Pacific Northwest versus Alberta. We have become accustomed to working together and helping each other through the challenges that exist.”

Zimmerman said the supply chains for basic production units are often globalized because amino acids and trace minerals often come from China. U.S. producers need to have discussions with feed suppliers and nutritionists to make sure that supply chain still exists with tariffs also implemented there.

Zimmerman has heard examples of some companies buying fresh colostrum in the U.S., bringing it into Canada, processing it and getting it standardized and unified as a dry product and then sending it back to the States.

“How do you treat that in this new environment?” Zimmerman said.

Constant communication

“A lot of it is getting on the phone, talking to your suppliers, talking to your buyers and sellers and staying in constant communication so that the communication flow continues to exist. Literally, what I tell you now may change an hour from now, not just a day from now.”

The immediate reaction to Trump’s tariffs has been negative as major equity markets around the world fell in response to Tuesday’s announcement. The EuroStoxx 600 fell by 2.14 per cent on the day, according to the Investment Strategists Team at IG Wealth Management. In Canada, the S&P/TSX Composite Index fell by -1.72 per cent. Exports to the United States represent 76 per cent of total Canadian exports as of the 12 months ending in 2024. These exports account for almost 20 per cent of Canada’s gross domestic product.

Canada, Alberta respond to tariffs

Canada’s response to Trump’s tariffs has been swift on both a national and provincial level. Alberta premier Danielle Smith announced the provincial government will avoid purchasing U.S. goods and services, including alcohol ($292 million in U.S. liquor sold last year in Alberta), and launch an advertising campaign to help shoppers buy Canadian products while U.S tariffs remain in effect. Other provinces across Canada have taken similar measures.

Even with feelings of western alienation, Smith has supported Trudeau’s response to Trump’s tariffs. At a news conference in Ottawa on Tuesday, Trudeau announced Canada would counter the tariffs by imposing 25 per cent retaliatory tariffs on $30 billion worth of U.S. products, and added that will grow to another $125 billion in U.S. goods in 21 days from the announcement. The list would include products such as electric vehicles, fruits and vegetables, beef, pork, dairy, electronics, steel, aluminum, trucks and buses.

The federal government has also been taking steps to mitigate the impact of the counter measures on Canadian workers and businesses by establishing a remission process to consider requests for exceptional relief from the tariffs imposed as part of national response to the U.S. applying tariffs on Canada.

The ag industry remains hopeful with Trump softening his stance in another industry on Wednesday, granting a one-month exemption on his tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico for U.S. automakers.

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