Two honey producers in Saskatchewan say trade relations between Canada and the United States over the last 12 to 18 months have had an impact on their industry.
Simon Lalonde, the President of the Saskatchewan Beekeepers Development Commission, says honey is among nearly $30 billion of Canadian goods threatened by the most recent threat of 50 per cent tariffs from the U.S.
Lalonde explains that honey has always been CUSMA compliant, so this is the first time it's facing a tariff threat.
"Part of it too is it's odd that it ended up on the auto parts tariff annex. If anything, when we saw it come out, we kind of assumed it would be under the dairy annex, has a little more to do with food products. Having it under the auto parts tariff just adds more questions."
He says 15 to 20 per cent of the honey Canada exports goes to the U.S., so a tariff "would definitely be a significant impact".
"That being said, hopeful that we could either slightly increase some domestic consumption (or) look into new markets. The catch with the new markets is it's not a short-term immediate solution." Lalonde said.
He adds a 50 per cent tariff would "essentially shut down honey altogether heading to the U.S. " and would look to Japan as another major market to sell to.
Luke Moore with Anchor Moore Farm is a honey producer from the Balgonie area. He notes the global price of honey has been stagnated and has been on the lower end for the last year to year-and-a-half.
In that timeframe, Moore has seen honey prices fluctuate between $1.95 to $2.15 per pound. He believes the price should be around $2.40 per pound, taking inflation into consideration.
"It'll be interesting to see how the honey prices change with the American harvest finishing up and the Argentinian harvest coming into." Moore said, adding the trade talks also caused a ripple effect on his cost of production.
"A lot of our honey frame foundations, the plastic foundations that honey bees would build their comb on, a lot of that stuff is made in the U.S. A lot of other small bits of equipment, a lot of our major extracting equipment is produced in the States. So it does put a pinch on repair costs, shipping timings, and all of that as well."
Moore also said this makes marketing difficult, leading one to ask questions such as "Are you going to just sell enough to pay off bills? Or are you going to get rid of it all, especially if you're in the private market?"
Moore is part of the BeeMaid Honey Cooperative, which has members in all three Prairie Provinces, so he is able to move product to domestic and international markets.
"We're kind of just riding it from a cooperative member standpoint and just kind of crossing our fingers, hopefully, that prices will increase." Moore said.
If this situation isn't stressful enough, Lalonde says it's been a tough year for Saskatchewan honey producers with a later start and subsequent shorter season than normal and a colder spring.
Despite that, Lalonde said beekeepers are optimistic a deal between Canada and the U.S. will be reached soon, so they can figure out how to price their product for the season.
Meantime, Lalonde says there are several things producers can do to mitigate any impending negative impacts.
Well, the health of the bees has kind of become the most important factor. So regardless of the honey crop, regardless of the honey pricing, honey bees are essentially a livestock. So we're doing everything we can to keep them healthy, get them ready for next season, and then cross our fingers that next season would be better."
Lalonde hopes people will support local beekeepers in the same way that Canadians chose Canadian products over American products over the last year.
(With files from Keira Miller, CJWW)
