It was a display of cross-border unity at Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show (COFS) 2025.
Ontario Minister of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness Trevor Jones and his Pennsylvania counterpart, State Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding, said during a meeting at the event that the province and state must recognize their commonalities and focus on long-term strategies amid international strain.
The two politicians made appearances at the Woodstock show Wednesday morning, where they toured the site and met with agtech innovators.
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Jones described COFS as a “living show.”
“It’s very responsive to the needs of producers,” he said. “It listens to producers, the vendors, the attendees, they all provide input. The show changes subtly every year.”
He noted this year the sector was grappling with labour pressures, weather conditions and trade uncertainty.
”The show has responded,” he said.
Outside of the show, one change since last year is the mounting trade tension between Canada and the U.S., which has many Canadian farmers concerned. Jones said he was not fretting about the elephant in the room, though.
“There’s no elephant,” he said. “Our values haven’t changed. The values of the producers and farmers and ranchers, they haven’t changed. Their needs haven’t changed. We’ll respond. We’ll show up. We’ll make critical investments. We’ll make sure safeguards are in place. We’ll move forward.”
Redding added the sentiment was similar in his state.
“We could be standing in Pennsylvania and having the same conversation,” he said.
Farmers on both sides of the border are taking the long view and working towards improvements down the road, he said, like working through tariff issues.
“As I’m reminded every day, the work that we do back and forth between Ontario and Pennsylvania is critical,” he said.
“Every single day, there are animals moving into Pennsylvania and back out. There’s produce moving in and out. So, I think we’ll take a long view, as most farmers do, and get it resolved, but we’ve got to be civil about that.”
Redding added both politicians should be encouraging to their respective leaders to make it clear these relationships are critical.
Jones, just back from a federal, provincial and territorial (FPT) meeting of agriculture ministers, said he hopes Ontario farmers know their voices are being heard.
“We’re farmer-led. We got their ideas, their voices,” he said. “Partisan politics aside, everyone comes in there as an aggie, representing producers and farmers and processors, and (says), ‘let’s look at business solutions that are long-game, long-term, generational,’ like our trading relationship with Pennsylvania.”
Speaking from past experiences, Redding cautioned against continuing tariffs, which he said “don’t grant you access. They simply set a rule.”
Beyond trade, there are also biosecurity concerns Ontario and Pennsylvania can partner on. He noted both jurisdictions were on the same flyway for migratory birds, and had issues with highly-pathnogenic avian influenza.
“How do we find and solve that problem, but also allow for commerce to move?” he asked.
Redding said that’s a question every poultry producer in his state is thinking of that issue, and worried about it.
The two said it is important to recognize the similarities in agriculture on both sides of Lake Erie. Redding pointed to the shared setback of summer droughts as one common concern in both regions. Another is the need to fill agri-food jobs with a skilled workforce.
For more coverage of Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show 2025, visit our landing page.
