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Possible Trump tariffs remain big question mark for southwestern Ontario farmers

Canadian economics have been in the headlines a lot lately as it relates to the United States, possible tariffs and president-elect Donald Trump.

Much of the talk has been about manufacturing — auto specifically — especially here in southwestern Ontario.

But did you know that roughly 50 per cent of what we expert as a country is the food eat related to agriculture and farming in Canada?

resden, Ont., farmer and agricultural economist Philip Shaw says the possible tariffs remain the biggest question mark for southwestern Ontario farmers in 2025.

He talked with CBC Radio's Windsor Morning producer Peter Duck about his expectations for the new year — and a quick reflection on how things were in 2024. Here's a portion of that conversation.

How was the year as a whole for agriculture … looking back at 2024, especially here in southwestern Ontario?

Generally, we think about how good the crop was this past year and we did have a pretty good crop. 

I know some of the crops in Essex this past year were better than they were in 2023. Generally speaking, what you found with grain prices in 2024 going into 2025 was that we got down to the lowest levels we've seen since just before the pandemic and the last Trump presidency. 

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Kansas Wheat Harvest 2026 | Three John Deere S7 700 Combines in Action

Video: Kansas Wheat Harvest 2026 | Three John Deere S7 700 Combines in Action

Kansas Wheat Harvest 2026 is underway near Alden, Kansas!

In this video, I spend time with Frederick Harvesting, a custom harvesting operation based in Alden, Kansas. Back at their home farm, three new John Deere S7 700 combines equipped with John Deere HDF40 draper heads work through a drought-stricken winter wheat crop while one of the farm's John Deere 8R 370 tractors pulls a Brent 1398 grain cart.

Most of the Frederick Harvesting crew was already busy cutting wheat in southwest Kansas, but these machines remained at home to finish up local fields. Throughout the video, I explain what is happening, discuss the effects of dry conditions on the crop, and capture plenty of aerial footage showing the combines working with the grain elevator at Alden in the background.