Tariffs, Greenbelt and food security: Farmers share what's important to them as Ontario election nears

Shawn Brenn, a farmer near Millgrove outside of Waterdown, Ont., spends a lot of time thinking about how U.S. tariffs will affect Ontario farms.

As the chair of the Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association and owner of Brenn-B Farms, he fears produce prices will see a huge hit in the likely case that American buyers aren't willing to pay an extra 25 per cent after proposed tariffs are enacted March 4.

"Eighty per cent of our fruits and vegetables get exported," Brenn told CBC Hamilton last week. "It will affect everyone hugely, but especially our greenhouse sector."

Brenn knows that negotiating tariffs is a federal issue, but says there are things the province can do to buffer their effects, such as programs that invest in farms and help them mitigate risk.

The province committed an additional $100 million in such funding in January, but it's not enough when compared to farm subsidies in the United States, said Brenn, 46.

Leaders of Ontario's major parties have all pitched their ideas for how they'd cushion the crippling blow of the tariffs to the province's economy if elected on Feb. 27. 

"We have a good relationship with this government, our biggest challenge is with the budget," said Brenn, whose main crop is potatoes.