Input costs and food-sector competition lead today’s agricultural news. Farmers are being warned that already elevated diesel prices may rise further, Canada’s Competition Bureau is trying to stop a major vegetable-brand acquisition, and U.S. beekeepers say they did not ask for the new tariff on Canadian honey.
Farm diesel prices may have further to climb
Farm diesel remains historically expensive, and a Western Producer analyst says the market may not have reached its high. Bulk diesel delivered to a Saskatchewan farm was selling for about $1.65 per litre on August 20, after prices exceeded $2 per litre earlier this year.
The pressure is coming less from crude oil itself than from a shortage of global refining capacity. Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains restricted, Russian refineries have been damaged, and Russia has shifted from exporting diesel to importing it. The risk is especially important during harvest, when farmers have little ability to reduce machinery use. The analyst’s advice is to remain well stocked instead of waiting for a quick price decline.
My view: Tensions remain high in the Strait of Hormuz, keeping considerable pressure on petroleum products. Farmers have to manage the situation as best they can, even though cutting fuel consumption during harvest is difficult. Keeping tanks full is therefore probably the best strategy as long as tensions persist in the region.
Read the Western Producer analysis
Competition Bureau moves to block Green Giant acquisition
Canada’s Competition Bureau has asked the Competition Tribunal to prevent Nortera Foods from acquiring B&G Foods Canada’s Green Giant and Le Sieur vegetable business. Nortera already sells canned and frozen vegetables under brands including Del Monte and Arctic Gardens.
The Bureau says Nortera is already Canada’s dominant processor of certain canned and frozen vegetables. The deal would combine it with its only major national brand competitor in an already concentrated market, creating a risk of higher prices and fewer choices for grocery wholesalers and consumers. The Competition Tribunal will make the final decision.
My view: I agree with the Competition Bureau. Grocery prices are rising faster than prices overall, making healthy competition essential. Agriculture also needs to preserve as many buyers as possible. Otherwise, prices will be controlled by an increasingly small number of companies, leaving farmers in a weaker bargaining position.
Read the Competition Bureau release
U.S. beekeepers say they did not seek the tariff on Canadian honey
The United States has imposed a 50 per cent tariff on Canadian honey since August 22, but U.S. beekeeper representatives say they did not lobby for it. A former president of the American Honey Producers Association says Canadian honey accounts for too little of the market to be a priority for the organization.
The United States imported about 11.8 million pounds of Canadian honey in 2025, only two per cent of its total honey imports. American producers say they are more concerned about volumes from Brazil, India and Argentina, along with adulterated honey. Their reaction undercuts the idea that the tariff answers an urgent industry demand and could remove a Canadian supplier just as the U.S. honey crop is expected to be weak.
My view: This is another example of the Trump administration’s incompetence in managing its trade relationships. It behaves like a bully, using intimidation to impose its will instead of seeking a win-win solution.
Related reading: Carney Takes Aim at U.S. Dairy, on Canada’s countermeasures in the broader trade conflict.
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