Breadbasket relations grow tense

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An old combine in a farm field sports Canada’s national flag, the maple leaf. A recent groundswell of patriotism and unity, partly in response to President Donald Trump’s call to tariff Canadian goods and annex Canada, has led many to display the flag.

Jason Maloney/For Agri-View

Fresh produce awaits customers at a farm market in Ontario, Canada. Though fresh local produce is available part of the year, every year Canada imports billions of dollars of fresh and frozen produce from the United States.

Jason Maloney/For Agri-View

Buckwheat blooms in a Canadian farm field. The United States was the largest importer of Canadian buckwheat in 2022.

Jason Maloney/For Agri-View

Canola blossoms turn a Canadian field golden. Canada exported about $8.6 billion of canola products to the United States in 2023. Tariffs on canola and other Canadian-produced commodities are expected to increase prices for consumers in the United States.

Jason Maloney/For Agri-View

A sign advertises locally grown kale at a farm market in Ontario, Canada.

Jason Maloney/For Agri-View

A sign at a farm market encourages customers to support local Canadian farmers. Signs encouraging Canadians to purchase Canadian-grown food are now also a common sight in large grocery stores.

Jason Maloney/For Agri-View

Headlines on articles, opinion pieces and advertisements from southern-Manitoba newspapers show what’s on the mind of many in Canada – trade, Trump and sovereignty.

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Headlines from Manitoba agricultural newspapers show interest in diversification of trade in response to the ongoing international trade war.

Jason Maloney/For Agri-View

Manitoba agricultural-newspaper headlines highlight concern with trade, tariffs and U.S. policy toward Canada.

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A magnet on an auto expresses Canadian resolve to remain a sovereign nation. ‘Elbows Up’ is a term used to indicate aggressive offense and defense in hockey, one of the most popular sports in Canada.

Jason Maloney/For Agri-View

A Canadian farm stands in serene sunlight at harvest time. Though friendships between the Canadian people and the people in the United States that developed through generations of peaceful interaction remains, many Canadians no longer have a positive attitude toward the U.S. government due to tariffs and talk of annexation.

Jason Maloney/For Agri-View

A Canadian ship sails through the Wisconsin entrance to Port Duluth-Superior at Superior, Wisconsin. It remains to be seen how tariff taxes and the continuing trade war with Canada will influence international trade.

Jason Maloney/For Agri-View

Ocean-going ‘salties’ are anchored in the Lake Superior harbor at Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. It’s been common for such ships to visit both Canada and the United States after traveling the St. Lawrence Seaway from the Atlantic Ocean. How the trade war and tariff taxes will change trade patterns between nations is unknown.

Jason Maloney/For Agri-View

A tourist from the United States enjoys the serenity of a lake in a boreal forest in Ontario, Canada. It’s unknown how tourism between Canada and the United States will be changed by the trade war, but there has already been a drop in the number of Canadians visiting the United States.

Jason Maloney/For Agri-View

Cattle graze on pasture near Sprague, Manitoba, Canada. Farmers in Manitoba and the rest of Canada are wondering what the trade war will do to commodity prices this year.

Jason Maloney/For Agri-View

Machinery awaits a farmer to commence with fieldwork near the Northwest Angle in southern Manitoba, Canada. As in the United States, some Canadian farmers are unsure of what to plant this season due to the ongoing trade war with the United States.

Jason Maloney/For Agri-View

A sign indicates distance to the border between Canada and the United States near the Northwest Angle. Similar signs mark the thousands of miles of peaceful border between the two nations, which have been allies from World War I to the bombing of the World Trade Center to the present day. Will the trade war and talk of annexation of Canada change the relationship between our nations? Some say it has already.

Jason Maloney/For Agri-View

A statue of Terry Fox stands at a memorial for him overlooking Lake Superior at Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. Fox became a symbol of Canadian valor by running across Canada starting from the Atlantic Ocean in what he called a marathon of hope to raise money for cancer research. His goal was $1 from each Canadian. Fox had lost a leg to cancer before starting so he used a prosthetic leg. Near Thunder Bay he was forced to suspend his run because cancer had moved to his lungs. He died 10 months later, having raised the equivalent of $1 from each Canadian. Since 1980 the annual Terry Fox Run has raised more than $850 million for cancer research. Fox and his quiet determination are a potent national symbol for Canada. Visit terryfox.org for more information.

Jason Maloney/For Agri-View

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Editor’s note: Agri-View’s writer Jason Maloney spends a lot of time across the border in Canada, both for personal recreation and to speak to farmers in Canada. As such he has a unique personal perspective regarding farmer opinions across the border. Whether we agree or disagree with those opinions, they are important to the future of North American agriculture.

Jason Maloney mug — Jason Maloney and Red

Jason Maloney is an “elderly” farm boy from Marinette County, Wisconsin. He’s a retired educator, a retired soldier and a lifelong Wisconsin resident. He lives on the shore of Lake Superior with his wife, Cindy Dillenschneider, and Red, a sturdy loyal Australian Shepherd.

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