How a trade war could boost small-scale farming in southwestern Ontario

Alessio Donnini · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 29, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

A southwestern Ontario husbandman hopes the ongoing U.S.-Canada commercialized warfare encourages the state to look inward to support itself fed, portion making itself much resilient successful the look of aboriginal crises.

It's a anticipation shared by immoderate farmers with smaller operations, arsenic they hunt for upsides successful a concern that could person dire consequences for the Canadian economy — and agribusiness connected a larger scale.

"I deliberation it's truly important that we cognize however to proviso ourselves," said Chris DeVries, the proprietor of Common Ground Farm successful St. Thomas, who believes "we could 100 per cent produce each the nutrient we need."

The erstwhile technologist grows a wide scope of vegetables year-round successful a operation of fields, greenhouses and hoop houses, taking his harvest to farmers' markets successful London and Kitchener. Common Ground besides runs a transportation work successful London and St. Thomas.

A fig of industries crossed Canada have already started cutting backmost arsenic tariff threats from U.S. President Donald Trump — and a resulting deficiency of certainty — loom.

Although the cultivation sector, which exported astir $40 cardinal successful products to the U.S. successful 2023, isn't immune to those effects, it continues to propulsion guardant to support radical fed. U.S. tariffs are expected to springiness a devastating stroke to southwestern Ontario's greenhouse increasing industry along with farming. 

For DeVries, small has changed recently.

"It's lone truly viable for maine to merchantability to section customers," helium said. "Otherwise I'd person to beryllium acold bigger."

With that, he expects to spot increasing involvement successful Canadian produce, and moving guardant hopes to spot much of the assemblage displacement toward producing with the home marketplace successful mind.

"The system we person has meant that it's often more efficient for america to turn [and export] currency crops similar maize and soybeans here, and for america to get our nutrient from determination else," DeVries said. "But I deliberation this mightiness beryllium a clip wherever we consider, well, is that ever the close answer?"

One situation DeVries acknowledges is that definite products can't beryllium feasibly grown year-round, oregon astatine all, successful Canada.

"We've go utilized to having everything we privation whenever we want. Eating seasonally is simply a small antithetic than eating immoderate is disposable whenever," helium said.

Larger producers acceptable to endure most

According to Ethan Wallace, a vice president with the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA), the thought of a commercialized warfare helping small-scale farmers has merit.

"The workplace to array marketers, the farmers with the roadside stands, the small and medium-sized producers that the marketplace nonstop to consumer, are the ones that basal to summation the astir retired of retired of each of this," Wallace said. "As consumers determine to bargain local, they're looking for those people."

The anticipation for the manufacture arsenic a whole, Wallace said, is that those consumers besides prioritize looking for Canadian labels successful market stores.

That's due to the fact that portion smaller operations tin payment from the broadening of their lawsuit base, larger farms that person specialized successful products that are often exported won't beryllium truthful lucky.

Wallace, who farms dairy cows conscionable extracurricular of Seaforth, points to hog farmers, who export astir 25,000 pigs southbound of the borderline each week. He said they, similar galore different farmers, person purpose-built farms that can't beryllium adjusted to nutrient different commodities without important investment.

With that successful mind, helium said, larger operations crossed the state volition progressively trust connected the "Buy Canadian" mindset that has swept the federation to get by since the request for their products stateside volition diminish.

They'll besides person to anticipation they tin marque up for immoderate mislaid exports by shipping products elsewhere.

"The metallic lining for the ample commercialized relation whitethorn beryllium our authorities and our commercialized teams looking beyond the U.S. to different countries that request our products, and looking to proviso different jurisdictions with precocious prime Canadian product," Wallace said.