REGINA — A summit planned for the end of the month will bring together producers from across Saskatchewan to talk about critical agricultural issues.
Tariffs and trade are at the top of the list.
Follow all our coverage of the tariffs situation here
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Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan president Bill Prybylski said eight groups have come together to host the summit in Saskatoon. Typically, APAS hosts a policy conference in conjunction with its spring board meeting, and this year the event is broader.
“Obviously the tariffs are the big topic of discussion, but there are a lot of other things that we need to talk about,” he said.
“We may have opportunities now to maybe look at some interprovincial trade barriers that we may be able to deal with.”
Interprovincial trade barriers have been an issue for years. Prybylski said the tariff threat has caused people to realize there are so many external forces to worry about that maybe internal issues should be handled.
“I think there’s just that extra little push now that maybe we’ve needed all along to deal with them,” he said.
“There seems to be a renewed energy around that and a lot of interest in it.”
He was at the Canadian Crops Convention last week in Edmonton and said the uncertainty of whether the tariffs were on or off was causing the most concern. Grain producers are wondering how much effect even the idea of tariffs has already had.
“When the talk of tariffs came into being, commodity prices took a hit, and how much is that already built into the price?” he said.
Prybylski said APAS and the provincial crop commissions intend to meet soon to discuss tariffs specifically. In the meantime, dealing with the interprovincial rules could be one good thing coming out of the uncertainty.
The other partners hosting the summit are SaskBarley, SaskOilseeds, SaskPulse, Saskatchewan Cattle Association, SaskPork, SaskWheat and Saskatchewan Egg Producers.
Aside from trade, the agenda includes policy discussions, grain contracts, agricultural advocacy and the province’s role amid global trade uncertainty.
Registration details for the March 27 event are available here.
Contact karen.briere@producer.com
