Trade wars, price uncertainty and agricultural branding

Photo Credit: Mark Isselhardt

Escalating trade disputes are reverberating through US farm sectors and our US specialty products. Farming sectors could become minor bargaining chips or worse, collateral damage, as high impact manufacturing interests drive the policies. In Vermont the two primary ag drivers of dairy and maple may get caught up in the fuss. Ironically, our suffering US dairy economy and dairy families have been pitted against Canadian farm owners and a supply management system that has facilitated viable milk prices for smaller farm operations. The liquid gold of maple flows freely across the US/Canadian border. At least it did. In 2017, 62% of Canadian syrup exports came to the United States ( US Maple Statistics)

Have Canadian imports been flooding US markets with cheap syrup? Until recently most US bulk syrup was purchased on parity with Canadian market price after currency exchange adjustments. Again, Canada has a market management strategy to stabilize prices (for better or worse) and US producers received the benefits of price predictability.

Branding could be equally important in future trade policy. In Vermont we have enjoyed an explosion of artisan cheese in the past 20 years. Vermont makes darn good cheese. But we fall prey to a cultural delay on developing the necessary protections to promote or protect our regional foods. For years many award winning Vermont cheeses have been “cheddars” “tomme” “french alpine”. Now we are seeing regionally named products like Rupert . Will US producers organize themselves to adopt the legal process verification that European food-rich regions have mastered with Champagne (the legal process)  and Cheddar (the verb!)?