The President of the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS) described 2025 as a busy one with no shortage of challenges and some good news sprinkled in.
Bill Prybylski did a year-end interview with Ryan Young, host of SaskAgToday and Ag News Director of 620 CKRM. You can find the full interview on SaskAgToday.com under the unfiltered section.
Prybylski said tariffs from the United States, China, and India – three of Canada's major trading partners – was the number one issue for APAS in terms of resources used to understand the impact on farmers and lobbying efforts.
Currently, China has tariffs on Canadian canola oil, seed, meal, yellow peas, seafood and pork. The U.S. currently has tariffs on Canadian lumber, upholstered wood products, and any product non-compliant with the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA). India has an import duty on yellow peas from all countries, including Canada.
Canada has counter-tariffs on American steel, aluminium, and automobiles, as well as Chinese steel and aluminium, and electric vehicles.
Prybylski says the tariffs affected producers' bottom lines.
"We need to see some sort of resolution to these tariffs sooner than later because as time goes on, the uncertainty just keeps growing on producers as we start making plans for next year's crops," he said. "There is a lot of uncertainty as to what our returns are going to look like, and will the tariffs still be in effect when we come around to try to sell our next year's crops."
The tariffs also affected producers in different ways, Prybylski said. The levies from the U.S., for example, increased the cost of inputs for Canadian farmers, while the ones from China had a significant impact on canola and pea prices.
Efforts have been made from the federal and provincial governments to resolve the trade disputes, including multiple trips to China and the U.S. from both levels of government to converse with counterparts to leaders having conversations on the sidelines of international summits.
Prybylski believes the province has done a good job of responding to the tariffs, noting Premier Scott Moe's trade mission to China.
"I don't know that they can do more than what they have already done—but certainly keep the pressure on." he said of the provincial government.
As for the federal response, Prybylski said while it's good Ottawa acknowledged the impacts the tariffs have had on the agriculture sector, what's really needed are results.
"We are still hopeful but still waiting to see what exactly the federal government can do for producers here with regards to the removal of the tariffs, and ultimately that is what we need to see."
Calls have been made for compensation to be made to producers affected by the tariffs, but Prybylski re-iterated the removal of the levies is what producers really want. Earlier this year, changes were made to the Agri-Stability program and an increase was made to the interest-free portion of the Advance Payments Program to help alleviate some of the financial pressures faced by farmers.
Relations with the federal government
Federal politics started the year with a bang when Justin Trudeau announced he was stepping down as Liberal Leader and Prime Minister.
After a leadership campaign, Mark Carney took over and subsequently won the spring federal election.
In addition, a change was made in the agriculture portfolio, from Kody Blois, who then became Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister, to Heath McDonald, an MP from Prince Edward Island.
While surprised by the change in the agriculture file, Prybylski said it's turned out well.
"We've kind of got a good deal here in that our relationship with Minister MacDonald has been very good. Our relationship that we've had with Kody Blois also has been very good, and having him in the Prime Minister's office as his Parliamentary Secretary is, I think, a real good sign that agriculture will get the due notice that it deserves in the Prime Minister's office." the APAS President said.
Asked about the Prime Minister's work this year, Prybylski thought much of the messaging out of the Prime Minister's Office has been "positive" so far, putting more of a focus on economic policies than environmental policies.
"(Carney)'s recognizing that we need to work on the economy, but we're still optimistic that there will be policies coming out of the federal government that will be pro-agriculture. We're still kind of waiting to see the effects of some of those policies and still optimistic that there's things coming on the pipeline that will be positive for agriculture."
Prybylski also noted the removal of the consumer carbon tax and the railway carbon surcharge "have certainly helped producers' bottom lines."
The reversal of changes to the capital gains tax, that were to take effect January 1, 2026, was another positive "not just agriculture, but many other industries and businesses as well that would be facing some fairly significant tax burdens with the changes that were proposed" Prybylski added.
Bunge-Viterra merger, a good growing season
There was just as much things happening in Saskatchewan as there was abroad.
On July 2, it was announced by grain companies Bunge and Viterra the merger of the two was officially complete, following a regulatory review from the Competition Bureau of Canada and other countries where they will do business.
Prybylski says APAS had concerns about the merger from the beginning – reduced competition, lower prices, and lower delivery options for producers – but were assured by then Transport Minister Anita Anand that the conditions applied to the merger would prevent that from happening.
"We've heard anecdotal stories on both sides of the ledger where we've heard that instances where producers are seeing reduced competition has resulted in some lower bids on commodities, but we've also heard some producers being optimistic that the new company will maybe be better able to capitalize some of the improvements that are needed in some of the country elevators out there." he said.
APAS remains cautious about the long-term effect of having one less grain company in the province.
"So far, we haven't seen a whole lot of negatives or positives from the sale, but we certainly will be keeping an eye on it and talking to producers in those affected areas to see if in fact there are situations where the merger has caused some issues. We will certainly be willing to take those up the chain of command to make sure that that doesn't happen or if it does, that there's resolutions.” Prybylski said.
Despite concerns over the merger, the current trade environment and weather challenges, producers were able to grow more crop this year compared to last year. The province produced 41.9 million metric tonnes (MMT) of crop in 2025, a 13.7 per cent increase over 2024 and 24.1 per cent above the five year average, according to the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture, citing estimates from Statistics Canada's post harvest survey of 7,198 farmers conducted from October 3 to November 6 .
By major crops, farmers produced 12.7 MMT of spring wheat, 12.2 MMT of canola, 5.4 MMT of durum, 3.5 MMT of barley, 2.9 MMT of lentils, and 1.8 MMT each of dry peas and oats.
The Ag Ministry notes significant increases in production for lentils (37.0 per cent), canola (16.7 per cent), barley (16.0 per cent), durum (8.5 per cent) and spring wheat (5.3 per cent).
Prybylski believes most producers, with the exception of some in areas experiencing drought such as the southwest, "were quite pleased with their yields this year."
"The frustrating part about it is even with a good average or even above average yields, margins are still going to be tight with the increased input costs and the lower commodity prices. So while on one hand, optimism on the yields, on the other hand, a lot of disappointment in the prices that we're seeing for commodities."
Foreign ownership of farmland
The issue of foreign ownership of farmland in Saskatchewan is one of those topics quietly discussed among farmers.
From Prybylski's perspective, the issue has been brought up frequently.
"Every time we've met with (an) RM Council or every district meeting or general meeting that we've had with producers, there's always been concerns being raised that there are those land sales out there that are suspect."
But over the last year, it's been in the spotlight – from the Provincial Auditor's report on the Farm Land Security Board in late 2024, to the Opposition NDP calling out the provincial government for not doing enough this year.
But the government says it's done plenty to address the issue, from regulatory changes to improve the Farm Land Security Board's ability to enforce the Saskatchewan Farm Security Act, to establishing an advisory committee to see what else can be improved on. The committee is supposed to submit a report with recommendations on improving the province's farm land ownership frame work by the end of this year.
"Glad to see that the provincial government has taken our concerns seriously. They're obviously looking into it more robustly." said Prybylski of the advisory committee.
Of the measures the provincial government has taken this year to address foreign ownership of farmland, Prybylski felt it's a step in the right direction.
"Giving the Farmland Ownership Board the tools that they need and the resources that they need to make sure that they can do their job adequately, I think that's the biggest thing. It certainly appears that going forward, they will be able to do that."
