“Feeling personal”: Canadian farmers cope with Chinese tariffs on low rapeseed and peas
Canola canola deep in the farm of Margaret Rigetti in southern Saskatchewan.
Her grandfather was one of the first to grow fresh yellow flowering crops in the 1970s, and it has been a staple ever since.
“For a large part of Saskatchewan, the farm economy is driven by low rapeseed,” Saskoilseeds director Rigetti said in an interview with land near Moose Jaw.
“When people follow the tan, it feels personal, just because it’s a Canadian story, such a Western Canadian story, such a Saskatchewan story and a story on my farm.”
China's tariffs on Canadian farmers, canola oil, canola oil and peas have hit Canada's retaliation against Beijing, Canada, and imposed taxes on electric vehicles, steel and aluminum made in China.
The producers are also trapped in uncertainty around tariffs by US President Donald Trump. Trump has imposed levies on Canadian aluminum, steel and cars while indulging in other duties.
Products belonging to Canada-U.S. Mexico agreement (including agricultural and energy products) do not comply with U.S. tariffs. Canada retaliated against countermeasures.
Rigetti has TV news in her living room. She said she has been watching it to keep up with the latest developments.
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“We’ve seen challenges before, but we’ve never been in the cross code between the two largest trading partners,” she said.
She pulled out a book about family history and turned to a page with an image of a combine picking up canola seeds. Below, the excerpt shows “New crops that change everything.”
Canola is the Portmanteau word for Canada and OLA, meaning oil. Researchers in Saskatchewan and Manitoba developed crops in the 1970s to solve the teething problem in its predecessor, Rapeseed.
Canola is used in edible oils, high-protein animal feed and biodiesel. The development of the crop has led to the gospel of today's farmers' pocket books, more than half of which are in Saskatchewan.
In Rigetti's yard, there are huge steel bins, where her husband and son are empty in dark brown canola seeds. They don't go to deliver the product to the cereal terminal.
Rigiti said her son will grow his first field of low rapeseed this year.
“We have to be careful to keep things in perspective and not scare our children,” she said.
“I do try to focus on what we can really control, it’s growing crops, growing the best crops we can grow, managing costs and managing our mental health.”
On a farm near Fillmore in southeast Regina, producer Chris Procyk said history is repeating.
“Unfortunately, we are once again caught in the middle of a trade dispute that we have not caused or created and we will pay,” said Procyk, vice president of the Saskatchewan Agricultural Producers Association.
He also said that if the United States imposes taxes on agricultural goods, there will be even bigger problems. Canadian crops and potassium fertilizers face south, and agricultural machinery face north.
Projk said the federal government should provide financial aid or other support to farmers affected by the trade war.
“There is really no place to be a hub,” he said. “The whole farm is in a trade dispute and we have no control over how these things work.”
The farm has faced China's headwinds before.
In 2019, Beijing blocked the two companies' low rapeseed import pollution, although the move is believed to be in response to the Canadian detention of Chinese business chief Meng Wanzhou. A few days after the arrest of Watana, Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig were also detained in China.
Wangzhou and two Canadians were released to their country in 2021. China lifted a ban on low rapeseed, but it is estimated that the Canadian economy has lost about $2 billion due to the dispute.
“The farm can bear some short-term pain,” Richty said. “If it lasts longer, it will put things in doubt.”
& Copy 2025 Canadian Press
