Agriculture has never been a walk in the park and with today’s growing uncertainty and complexity it leaves farmers stuck between a rock and a hard place. Farmers across Canada face a broad range of pressures – shifting global markets, increasing costs of production, extreme weather and ever-changing trade barriers. Today’s realities are reshaping what it means to farm in Canada, demanding more adaptability, resilience and innovation.

In January of 2025, we asked over 1000farmers from across Canada (outside of QC) about their level of concern on a list of 21 challenges that farmers currently face or may face in the future. This report focuses on what Canadian farmers are most concerned about. For “new trade barriers restricting access to global markets”, we dove in deeper to understand ways farmers plan to manage them.

The level of concern varied across topics – ranging from 64% very concerned about increasing costs of production to only 10% who were very concerned about biologicals/ biostimulants not meeting farmers expectations.

The chart below shows the top 10 issues that Canadian farmers are most concerned about, expressed as the % of farmers who say they are very concerned.

Trade Barriers and Tariffs

For Canadian farmers, access to global markets is crucial. Shifting trade policies, international tariffs and political tensions continue to create uncertainty. In an industry with already so much unpredictability, farmers are faced with the challenge of navigating the ever-changing global trade dynamics – putting more pressure on their bottom line and strategy with hopes to overcome these challenging times.

Over 80% of farmers said they were concerned about new trade barriers that restrict access to global markets – 50% indicating a high degree of concern. Across provinces, concern was fairly consistent, slightly lower in BC where just over a third of farmers indicated a high level of concern.

Whether it’s retaliatory tariffs or evolving trade agreements, these factors can limit market access, influence commodity prices and impact long-term planning. To better understand the real-world impact of these trade challenges, we asked farmers to share their own perspectives. We posed the question “From your perspective as a Canadian farmer, what message would you like your government official to hear from you?”

The top messages Canadian farmers want their government officials to hear:

Make Agriculture a Higher Priority – The most common message that farmers would like to convey to their elected representatives is to make agriculture a higher priority. They feel that other industries get more attention even though agriculture contributes more to the Canadian economy.

• “Agriculture is big business in the Canadian economy and a healthy agricultural sector will lead to spillover effects on other supporting industries like transportation and processing to mention a few.“
• “Just pay more attention to agriculture. It’s like we are the last thing to consider. Listen to the agricultural associations.”

Develop Trade Outside USA – Farmers often expressed the opinion that Canada needs to expand its trading relationships in new markets, outside of the USA. There is the belief that Canada can no longer depend on its relationship with the USA.

• “I think we have to be far less reliant on the United States and develop more global trade.“
• “We need to look for other global customers for our ag products besides relying on selling the majority to the USA. We should be talking with China and getting the tariffs reduced off our canola oil and meal. With the tension between China and USA it should be a great opportunity to get our product into China.“

Eliminate Tariff on EV cars from China – Many farmers feel that the tariff imposed by Canada on electric vehicles from China was ill-advised. They feel that the EV market in Canada does not justify protection at the expense of the agricultural market.

• “Really concerned about China charging a tariff on Canola because we have a 100 percent tariff on their electric cars coming to Canada. Who thought that was a good idea? Really think someone should keep us the farmers in mind when the government decides this stuff.“
• “With respect to dealing with China and tariffs and trade relationships there, we need to act independently of the US. We should remove our EV tariffs if they agree to remove obstacles to canola and pork.“

Promote Free Trade, Eliminate Tariffs – Most farmers are entrepreneurs. They believe in free enterprise and would like to see their government promote free trade. Some are even willing to sacrifice the supply management system.

• “Try to eliminate the tariffs, broaden our trading partners so we aren’t overly reliant on one partner. No more bailouts, I’d like to see a lot less money put into the system and the government return to a balanced budget.“
• “Request fair trade with the USA, eliminate the marketing boards and let free markets take over with no government involvement.“

Do Not Retaliate, Negotiate – Some farmers would advise their government officials to negotiate a resolution with the USA. They do not feel that Canada can win in a trade war with the US.

• “Stop playing tough guy with the Americans! We are too small for reciprocal tariffs to really work without decimating our economy. Work towards and insist on an economic union between our two countries. Don’t hold up all the negotiations for the fantasy that supply management has to remain in place for Canada. It really only affects one commodity while every other industry/commodity is held hostage by it.“
• “Don’t respond with tariffs let the inflationary effects take hold on the American people don’t hurt the Canadian consumer.”

There is no shortage of challenges that farmers worry about. Pressures continue to increase – from low commodity prices and rising costs of production to government regulations and taxation. And now they have to deal with new trade barriers that will potentially impact market access.

These challenges shape how farmers make decisions and manage risk. Most challenges are likely not going away any time soon, making one thing very clear – farmers are resilient!