I attended the London Farm Show and the week after, the Ottawa Valley Farm Show. Here are a few things I heard and observed.

Commodity volatility has created anxiety and opportunity

There’s lots of concern about the price of fertilizer, as the cost of it jumps due to the war in Iran.

That will be a challenge for farmers who haven’t booked their nitrogen, especially urea, for this year’s growing season.

Fast-rising oil prices also mean increased production costs for farmers in the spring, if the war doesn’t end soon.

While input costs have risen, oil prices dragged crop prices up with them for a couple of weeks, before they dived again and some farmers told me at the farm shows that they took advantage of the rally to sell some 2025 crop and forward contract some of their 2026 crop.

Drones spraying highly anticipated

You can almost feel the excitement vibrating for the potential arrival of drone spraying of pesticides, hopefully to be approved this spring.

It’s expected that the Pest Management Regulatory Agency could approve drone spraying under the rules that regulate aerial spraying. That will bring Canada into alignment with major competitors like the United States, Brazil and China.

In China, about a third of the farm acres that need to be sprayed is applied by drones, said Mike Verhoog of Drone Spray Canada at the Ottawa Valley Farm Show.

There are some risks to watch for if you are legally able to jump into the drone spray game this growing season.

Best practices for the application of many pesticides are still being figured out. I hear there are lots of people without a lot of agronomic experience trying to get into the custom spraying business.

Some drone dealers have told me that they haven’t sold drones to some people who had questionable expertise.

There will likely be a glut of capacity, so be careful who you hire.

Ontario’s advantages in the tech world

San Francisco has software, Boston has mechatronics and manufacturing, but southern Ontario has both, says Jana Tian, one of the founders of Upside Robotics, which is manufacturing 80 of its fertilizer micro-dosing robots in Waterloo.

The company’s founders, who both come from outside of Canada, have become evangelists for the capacity to build agricultural technology in southern Ontario. There is agronomics, engineering and mechatronics capacity at universities and colleges and farmers not far outside of the cities to test the technology.

The post Editorial: Notes from the farm shows appeared first on Farmtario.

Farmtario asked grain storage and bin manufacturers at the London Farm Show about what producers are thinking about storing and handling grain right now.

“People are hanging on (to grain) and maybe making marketing decisions that allow them to ship the grain rather than store it and expand right now, but it depends on the customer,” said Wayne Brubacher, Horst Systems Ltd.’s director of sales and service. “Grain storage makes sense. There’s an opportunity in the carry to capture that (margin), but you can’t capture it if you don’t have the bin.”

Why it matters: Market uncertainty spurred by Trump’s monthly tariff threats and reversals, combined with years of rising interest rates, skyrocketing input costs and a drop in commodity prices, has seen many farms shift into survival mode.

When asked what advice he’d give a producer, Brubacher advised each operation calculate its crop drying, storage and shipping costs to market, tariff or not, and weigh it against having an on-farm system.

“You still have to handle that crop,” he said.

Natural gas and propane remain the most efficient grain drying options, although research into electric and biomass dryers is ongoing. Brubacher stated that in recent years, there has been a trend toward forgoing “extra” purchases for bins to make storage expansion more affordable. However, monitoring grain quality is essential, and technological advances help keep it within reach.

“We design systems specific to the person’s needs, and then you look at those things,” he advised. “If it doesn’t pay back, then you shouldn’t be doing it.”

Neil Loewen, owner of Total Grain Systems in Dresden, said tariffs were on the minds of London Farm Show visitors, who asked who manufactured his material.

He stated that approximately 95 per cent of his sources are Canadian, which is unique in Ontario’s storage sector. He added that Canadians won’t be left unscathed by the tariff war but hopes the Buy Canadian movement will assist companies like his.

“We know we will be affected by tariffs, but I think that the Canadian-based companies, such as myself, with Canadian-based products, will be less affected by tariffs than those out of the U.S.,” he said. “We’re hoping this tariff war will help the Canadian economy.”

Loewen’s suppliers with a U.S. client base could implement a blanket customer price increase to ensure the brunt of the economic tariff impacts is carried evenly across the border.

If U.S. companies flood the market with cheaper options, they would likely win the storage-war bid. Still, Loewen isn’t sure the American economy is strong enough to support lower prices, especially given the agriculture manufacturing sector’s thin margins, regardless of border side.

“It’s not the oil and gas (industry. Unless the government throws subsidies at the American manufacturers, there’s no room for American companies to push product or dump steel into the Canadian market because the margins are already tight.”

The post Market and political uncertainty shadow storage bin decisions at London Farm Show appeared first on Farmtario.

The post London Farm Show opens amid tariff woes appeared first on Farmtario.

The London Farm Show is held at the Western Fair District from March 5 to 7.

Rick Beunen, business development representative with Topigs Norsvin said he expects customers will feel the impact of tariffs in the near future. “We have to export 30,000 hogs a week. Our customers are going to be receiving less for their pigs when they cross the border,” he said.

Lora Cirkon, sales director with Guelph-based workwear company The Dirty Seahorse is hoping a new wave of patriotism will send more business her way. “Luckily because we are a Canadian-owned company we are not affected by the tariffs. We don’t have to deal with an increase in cost or shipping.”

Ralph Cormack, founder of advocacy group Citizens Concerned About Biosolids, said he doesn’t expect the tariffs to have any impact on his efforts, and he and his team plan to continue to provide information and resources to farmers.

Jim Collins, founder of food ‘rescue’ and redistribution centre Harvest Hands, believes the tariffs may have an impact on food resources where it’s needed most.

He said the Farm Show presented a great opportunity to network. “We never say no,” he said, adding that his program will ensure that no food is wasted during what is expected to be a complex growing season.

Priyanka Gupta, outreach coordinator with Guardian Network, noted the current economic climate paired with the impact of tariffs can be tough on mental health. She said it’s normal to feel anxious right now and it’s important to “manage news consumption.”

Gupta suggested that taking breaks from the news can help manage anxiety and the feeling of being overwhelmed, and added that it’s important to take advantage of the available support resources.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday imposed 25 per cent tariffs on imports of Canadian goods, and 10 per cent on Canadian energy.

The post Tariffs a key concern at London Farm Show appeared first on Farmtario.