I really didn’t want to write this article. I really don’t like that we are fighting with the Canadians.

For those who may not know, I’m half-Canadian. Not enough to be good at hockey but enough to be nice and also appreciate a good 5% ABV beer. I also grew up going to elementary and high school in Canada while living right across the border in the U.S. I was blessed with 12 years of learning about Canadian history, mostly centered around the Hudson Bay Company and the beaver trade. I have many amazing family members and friends who still pledge allegiance to King Charles III.

All of this to caveat the fact that I am also an American dairy farmer.

This feels a lot like Mom and Dad are fighting, and I kind of just want people to get along. I felt compelled to write this because, in many ways, I do straddle the 49th parallel. And yet, there will be much in here that some will be offended by.

Canada has a quota system where they limit milk production to what is consumed within Canada. This is a great system where farms thrive and have a milk price that is oftentimes almost double the price that their American counterparts receive.

A quota system means that you have to prevent any outside milk from coming into your country, and that is done with a nearly 300% tariff on outside milk products coming into Canada. Historically, there has been an exception for U.S. milk processed in Canada and then exported back to the U.S. or other countries. This massive tariff raised the ire, or rather inspired President Donald Trump in his last term to seek to right this perceived injustice.

It is important to understand that milk is often deconstructed at a milk plant. Milkfat is pulled out to make ice cream and butter. Fluid is used for drinking. Protein is put into fortified food items or muscle-building powders.

The challenge Canada had was there is a massive demand for milkfat as consumers demanded more butter, cheese and ice cream. The Canadian dairy farmers wanted to produce this milk, so they increased production, and it led to having way too much skim milk powder. Rather than dumping the excess skim milk into fields or incinerators, they chose to create another class of milk called Class 7. This was priced at the lowest world price so they could essentially dump their excess on the world market.

This pushed the U.S. and New Zealand manufacturers out of the way as they were trying to maintain these markets at a competitive level. After much negotiating, the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) deal was made where other countries were allowed a certain percentage access to the Canadian market and Canadians agreed to eliminate the Class 7 distinction.

There has been much stonewalling on the part of the Canadian dairy industry as they have found ways to limit global access to their allotted percentage of the Canadian consumer market. This has recently led to New Zealand threatening to sue Canada and the Canadian dairy industry.

So, here we stand today where Trump has decided to make Canadians the bad guys again. I do not understand the inner machinations that are being devised in the Trump brain.

My understanding is that Trump views tariffs as the way to raise revenue and encourage U.S. corporations to rehome manufacturing back in the U.S. His demand for more border security initially in order to negotiate a better trade deal looks to be simple posturing. I wholeheartedly despise the nation-building rhetoric and a desire to make Canada a 51st state.

There has been some irony as Justin Trudeau allowed for massive Indian immigration into Canada, encouraged Indian farmers to protest in India, while debanking Canadians who protested or donated in the incredible trucker protest in Ottawa.

President Trump seems intent on leaving the 25% tariff on Canadian goods coming into the U.S., which will have a devastating impact on Canada. Trump continues to hold up the Canadian 300% tariff on outside milk and has gone back on the original USMCA agreement that was put in place.

I’m not an economist; I just play one online. The 2023 data of Canadian exports to the U.S. was $410 billion, while the U.S. exports to Canada were $269 billion. Trump has a desire to bring this into equilibrium and use tariffs to force Canadian manufacturing into the U.S.

Trade negotiations are that – a negotiation.

A couple thoughts: There has been a historic desire online to disparage American dairy as subpar or inferior. No, American dairy is not riddled with antibiotics. The vast majority of American dairies do not use rBST. Yes, American dairy products are cheaper as, historically, border lineups heading back into Canada are filled with cars packed with cheese, yogurt and fluid milk. The Costco in my local border town was historically selling more fluid milk than all the Costcos in the state of Colorado combined. The reason being Canadian consumers.

There are many positives of the Canadian systems. Canadian dairies are very profitable. The consistency of price has allowed them to serve higher levels of debt. The diversification of farming units is better from a disease-prevention standpoint. The best example would be the current egg shortages. U.S. egg layer barns are massively larger than their Canadian counterparts and are incredibly vulnerable to a disease like the avian flu, impacting a larger percentage of the total egg production.

I appreciate you following along on the ramblings of an American dairy farmer. I long for the day when we have a more amicable relationship with our neighbors, friends and family to the North. The phrase “May you live in interesting times” comes to mind. It is ironic, and implying a sense of turmoil and difficulty, not a blessing. Indeed, we live in interesting times.