Waverly, Minnesota — At a time when uncertainty about global tariffs and trade is prompting an increase in calls to buy locally, Minnesota produce growers say the financial impact is unavoidable.
“We need to get all of our tunnels covered, which is about 50 acres,” Jenna Untied told KARE 11 as she showed them around Untiedt’s Vegetable Farm on Friday.
“The plastic here comes from Canada, the clips and rope you see are from England, and we’re waiting for a shipment. They cannot tell us where it is right now. It is on its way to us, but it is being held up by tariffs somewhere.”
Untiedt is the retail manager at her family’s 54-year-old vegetable farm, which provides all of the sweet corn for the Minnesota State Fair. But she has never seen a spring like this one, so she contacted KARE11 to explain how the global trade war is taking root right here.
“We had six phone calls Monday morning about tariffs affecting products we use on a daily basis and as much as we think we’re a local farm, we use products from around the world to bring our customers fresh and local goods,” according to her.
“We use soil to start all of our transplants, which is all imported from Canada; most fertilizers and chemicals used in agriculture are manufactured in the United States. I was looking at seeds yesterday, and we also get a good portion of our seeds from China.
And Untiedt is not alone.
“I’m a third-generation farmer,” explained Brad Schmielewski, operations manager at Stoney Brook Farms in Foley.
Despite the Trump administration’s announcement of a 90-day pause on some global tariffs this week, Schmielewski says uncertainty has already been priced into many items, such as cardboard boxes made in the United States but primarily made from Canadian wood pulp.
“I spoke to our box supplier and prices are up 25 to 30%,” he informed me. “Doesn’t really matter if you order now or in 3 or 4 months, it just seems like this is the price this year and is what it is.”
Both farms say that passing on rising costs is not as simple.
“The wholesale markets actually dictate the price and you just kind of have to follow along or else not sell your product,” according to Schmielewski. “You have two options there.”
It’s one of the reasons Stoney Brook has expanded over the years, adding corn mazes and farm tours, while Untiedt’s has grown more flowers and opened more markets.
“I looked at it 5 or 10 years ago and we were a lot more profitable than what we are now,” Schmielewski shared. “You almost see your gross profit — your sales — go up, but the net profit keeps shrinking every year.”
And, in a year when their crops face both uncertain growing conditions and uncertain global markets, they hope they can rely on local customers to deliver.
“If you can support Fresh and Local, that’s really what we ask this year,” Untiedt told the audience. “Because there’s gonna be a lot of farmers just hanging on by a thread this year with all the uncertainty we’re facing at this point in time.”
Aside from tariffs, both farmers say labor is their main concern right now. Their produce is mostly grown, tended, and harvested by hand, and they can’t find enough help locally.
An agricultural visa program that helps supply seasonal workers is currently experiencing delays, and it has also increased in cost by 50% over the last four years.
