WESTERN PRODUCER —New trade hostility between the U.S. and Canada are a bitter pill for Manitoba farmers, given the struggles they’ve already had during the 2026 crop year, according to the province’s general farm group.
Jill Verwey, president of the Keystone Agricultural Producers, says their members are concerned about costs and growing uncertainty as they watch the tariff back-and-forth between Canada and the U.S. — tensions that are escalating just as their new crop comes off the field.
“Tensions are high, and the … financial stress load on producers is is high, and I think that any additional uncertainty in the marketplace, I think, really adds to that financial stress,” she said.
Geopolitical factors have rocked the trade landscape this year. China reopened to Canadian canola early in 2026, but headlines have been dominated by waves of tariff announcements between the U.S. and multiple trading partners. That’s included a few scrapes with Canada, including tariffs over steel and aluminum. Until Aug. 22 though, CUSMA-compliant goods were generally offered exemption.
Conflict in the Middle East also sent both fuel and fertilizer costs soaring this spring, just as seeding equipment was starting to move. That was on top of ongoing impacts of the Russia-Ukraine war.
Those costs haven’t gone away, Verwey said. The overseas conflicts that pushed up prices are still pressuring markets, even as farmers start to shop for their inputs for next year.
“We’re looking now in in August already for inputs for 2027,” she said. “So all of those things are are weighing on producers’ minds.”
A major U.S. ag lender expects fertilizer prices to stay higher than they were before the Iran war through 2028, the Western Producer reported earlier this month. Diesel price peaks are likely also still coming, thanks to both the Middle East conflict and damage to refineries in Russia, the Western Producer reported.
None of that counts the local weather curveballs Manitoba farmers faced this spring.
Rain complicated seeding this year. Heavy rains led to flooding states of emergency though much of western Manitoba and the southern Interlake. Crop acres with a flood claim climbed well into the six-digit range.
“There’s producers in the in the northwest in the Swan River area that, you know, this year is going to be a tremendous loss for them,” Verwey said.
Suddenly shaky commerce with Canada’s biggest trading partner getting layered onto that is frustrating, she noted. Things like parts and machinery need that open border.
“Our supply chains go both ways to the United States and in Canada, and we rely very highly on on having that trading relationship where products are able to flow back and forth,” she said. “So that trading relationship is integral to both sides of the border being able to produce food affordable on both sides of the border.”
Manitoba calls in U.S. trade council
On Aug. 24, Manitoba announced it’s convening its U.S. trade council. The multi-industry advisory group was established early last year during an earlier round of threatened U.S. tariffs.
Verwey sits on that council.
She says the council will address various industries’ concerns about the tariffs and help flag programming needs with government.
“I think the message coming out of that is that we we really have to really dig in and and have contact with our U.S. counterparts, businesses that we do business with, legislators and individuals in the States,” she said.
They would hope to convey tariff and counter-tariff impact, and the importance of the current trading relationship.
“At the end of the day, we respect the negotiators that are at the table getting a fair deal … we just, at the end of the day, want to see it concluded,” said Verwey.
Uncertainty hinders investment in the province, she added, and “business as usual is is kind of the the end goal.”
Agriculture’s priorities in the trade council also branch into improving infrastructure, she said.
“I think this is our opportunity to really make sure that we have the environment to create healthy agricultural producer and and farming operations here in Manitoba, and in in order to do that, you know, let’s ensure that we we have infrastructure to to actually support that: roads, hydro, gas infrastructure, you know, regulations on on what we’re doing, to streamline those,” she said.
It also touches on one of the big ticket infrastructure items pushed by the province in the last year: the Port of Churchill.
Ambitious expansion plans surround the port, and it took its first grain shipments in years earlier this summer.
It’s a project with significant investment needs, Verwey noted, and recent attention “shows the the intent and the commitment of both federal and provincial governments that, ‘Let’s create another another access point for export.’”
MASC changes in Manitoba tariff aid
On Aug. 28, the province also announced over $100 million in promised tariff supports.
As part of that, the Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporation (MASC) will work with beekeepers on specific supports for their sector, a release noted.
Beekeepers are expected to be hit hard by the tariffs. Manitoba leads the nation in honey exports. The U.S. as a key customer.
Manitoba exports considerably more honey than other Canadian provinces, including other Prairie provinces, which collectively make up Canada’s largest honey-producing region. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada/Statistical overview of the Canadian honey and bee industry, 2025 Photo: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada/Statistical overview of the Canadian honey and bee industry, 2025
MASC will also let farms borrow more under the Diversification Loan Guarantee Program ($5 million, compared to $1.5 million). The same program will now have a wider eligibility. It’s been opened to grain and oilseed operations, and applications will now count “investment in primary agricultural infrastructure in Manitoba” as a valid purpose.
The Operating Credit Guarantee Program has also been boosted to $3 million for individuals, corporations and partnerships.
The province also said that they are “increasing the guaranteed portion of loans under both the Operating Credit Guarantee Program and Diversification Loan Guarantee program to 33.33 per cent from 25 per cent.”
“Our agriculture sector is a cornerstone of Manitoba’s economy and vital to the future of our province,” Agriculture Minister Kostyshyn said in the release. “We will continue working alongside Manitoba producers to ensure agriculture remains strong, competitive and growing for generations to come.”
Manitoba’s aid package also includes:
- $500,000 to the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters,
- $50 million for the Manitoba Trade Resilience Loan Program,
- $500,000 more for the Export Support Program
- $250,000 for export advisory services, which includes market development
- $500,000 for interprovincial trade missions impacting local alcohol, and
- $13.7 million to help employers with wage subsidy supports.
Tariff-impacted businesses also got a tax carrot. They can now defer provincially administrated tax payments from Sept. 1-Dec. 31, 2026.
The federal government has also announced a $7.5 billion aid package for affected businesses and workers.
About the author
Editor
Alexis Stockford is the editor of the Glacier FarmMedia news hub, managing the Manitoba Co-operator. Alexis grew up on a mixed farm near Miami, Man., and graduated with her journalism degree from Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, B.C. She joined the Co-operator as a reporter in 2017, covering current agricultural news, policy, agronomy, farm production and with particular focus on the livestock industry and regenerative agriculture. She previously worked as a reporter for the Morden Times in southern Manitoba.
Read more from Alexis Stockford
