Agriculture showcase promotes province’s agri-food sector

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/03/2025 (187 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

An annual event showcasing local farms and food Saturday carried added significance as tariff threats from the U.S. cast uncertainty over the agricultural industry.

Agriculture in the City shows off what has been grown locally and the journey from farm to table. It began in the early 2000s and moved from The Forks to Outlet Collection Winnipeg more recently.

Trevor Sund, a fourth-generation farmer and beef producer in the Woodlands area north of Winnipeg, said he’s concerned about looming tariffs.

“There’s the potential for it to be a problem,” he said.

Sund believes Canada could mitigate the possible impact by strengthening its internal industry, with value-added measures long before exporting products, and reducing or eliminating interprovincial trade barriers.

“I have family in Kenora,” he said. “I can’t sell them my beef.”

Sund said he understands provinces must protect their own industries but argues partners in a country as vast as Canada should work together.

Beyond tariffs, Sund said the weakened Canadian dollar — particularly since U.S. President Donald Trump took office — has affected farmers by reducing their buying power.

“That’s probably going to be the fastest and the worst outcome,” he said, adding the prospect of a protracted trade war between longtime allies is disappointing.

Some sectors remain relatively shielded. Stefan Signer, a dairy farmer near Kleefeld, southeast of Winnipeg, said dairy farmers don’t generally import or export a lot.

“For us, if tariffs are going to affect what Canada is importing, Canadian farmers will be able to fill that,” he said. “Consumers can be assured we are still going to have milk on the shelf and be able to supply cheese and butter.”

Signer said the great thing about Agriculture in the City is the connection farmers can make to younger generations who have become disconnected from farming.

“We definitely see less of a personal connection to farming that you would have expected a generation or two ago,” he said.

Sandra Dyck, a third-generation egg farmer from Springstein, west of Winnipeg, demonstrated the benefits of egg shells in gardens, particularly around tomato plants, which add calcium to the soil while fending off slugs.

She said that, like the dairy sector, egg farmers are better shielded from threatened tariffs because of domestic distribution.

However, Canada still imports seven per cent of its eggs, and if Trump closed that off, Dyck said Canadian farmers would have to pick up the slack.

Her conversations with mall shoppers Saturday often revolved around egg shortages in the U.S., where avian flu outbreaks have led to mass culls of chickens and increased prices.

Canada has largely avoided the crisis, with Dyck attributing much of that to the country’s cooler climate.

“B.C. has probably been hit the hardest, but because we focus on domestic supply, we help them out,” Dyck said.

Heath and Brigitte Unrau, along with their 10-year-old son, Ethan, shuffled from booth to booth at the event Saturday, learning about local producers.

“Just having a deeper understanding and appreciation of all the work and effort that goes into it,” Brigitte Unrau said. “It’s nice to learn about other types of farming. Not only wheat and grain, but eggs and beef.”

Richard Levergne, a former regional manager for Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, said it’s nice to see large crowds at the event he helped launch in 2003.

“It was really to bring people up to speed in terms of what agriculture does for them,” he said. “It’s in their lives, but they don’t always know how. This gives you an idea of how it drives the economy, especially here in Manitoba.

“Agriculture needs the support of the public.”

scott.billeck@freepress.mb.ca