Talk to Wisconsin dairy farmers about the ground-shifting events in their industry and it’s striking how rarely the new trade deal with Canada comes up.
That might surprise anyone who’s heard the dairy liberalization in the new North American trade agreement — which gave U.S. producers a bit more access to Canada’s tightly controlled dairy market, and limited the Canadian sector’s ability to export dairy products to the U.S. — described as a major development.
The 2018 deal has been characterized that way on both sides of the border: by Canadians unhappy with the new NAFTA, and in the U.S. by President Donald Trump as he campaigns in Wisconsin, a key presidential election swing state and dairy-producing region.
It could soon heat up again as a political issue. The U.S. has hinted its first lawsuit against Canada under the new pact might involve dairy, as Democrat and Republican politicians have written letters accusing Canada of unfairly implementing the deal in a way that discriminates against U.S. farmers.
But right now, down on the farm, based on conversations with American dairy operators of different political stripes, trade with Canada ranks low on the hierarchy of priorities.
America’s huge dairy sector generates tens of billions in revenue each year and regularly deals with abrupt and brutal price swings that dwarf the few hundred million in new revenues expected from Canada.
“It’s a drop in the bucket,” said Sarah Lloyd, a Democrat and dairy farmer who lives two hours west of Milwaukee, describing the new Canadian market access.
A tractor passes a sign expressing support for Wisconsin’s dairy farmers in Watertown, west of Milwaukee, on Aug. 18, 2020. (Alex Panetta/CBC)
A third-generation dairy farmer near Kenosha, who voted for Trump in 2016 and said he probably will again, Dave Daniels, said the new pact might help the overall market a bit.
But, “On my own bottom line it’s probably not going to make a lot of difference,” he said.
Lloyd Holterman said he’s heard detailed opinions about this agreement in one place — in Canada, when he visits for dairy conferences.
“They seemed to know more about it [in Canada] than I knew. [Farmers there] were upset … so I figured we probably got the better end of the deal,” said Holterman, who prefers not to divulge his voting intentions
“I don’t know how big a deal it was, really. … That’s a small [market in Canada].”
Dairy farmers in Wisconsin have considerable political power this year.
Why Trump needs Wisconsin farmers
Wisconsin, a swing state, will be decided not just by whether Trump wins a majority of votes in the rural, milk-producing areas — as he almost certainly will.
The other factor is whether Trump racks up enough of a lead here to offset his likely deficits in urban areas, like Milwaukee and Madison.
And the dairy deal with Canada is central to Trump’s re-election message here.
Trump supporters greeted Vice President Mike Pence as his motorcade headed to a dairy farm in Onalaska, Wis., on July 17 to promote the new North American trade deal. (Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel via AP)
In speeches last month in different parts of the country, Trump promoted the new NAFTA as a turning point — he said, in one, that Canada used to take advantage of the U.S. when it came to dairy, “but not anymore.”
At the Republican convention, his daughter Ivanka described the president constantly asking about dairy when getting briefed on the NAFTA negotiations: “[He would say], ‘Don’t let down those dairy farmers I met in Wisconsin. I don’t want them to like this deal; I want them to love it.”
Even if the Wisconsin farmers have limited expectations for the agreement, they do appear to like the fact a deal has been made. The industry is craving stability after a wild few years, and this pact helps in that regard.
WATCH | In 2017, Trump said Canada was doing ‘very unfair things’ to U.S. dairy farmers
U.S. president’s new ‘Buy American and Hire American’ executive order targets Canada’s dairy industry 1:24
More than half of U.S. dairy farms shut down over the last two decades and 2018 and 2019 were some of the hardest years on record.
The destabilizing forces included a dramatic plunge in prices. Whole milk prices dropped 33 per cent from 2014 to 2016, then remained low for years. Milk consumption has also declined. And there’s never-ending pressure to keep growing, keep innovating — or die.
“Highs, lows, highs, lows,” said Daphne Holterman, Lloyd’s wife, describing the unpredictability of U.S. dairy prices.
American farmers were happy it set limits on Canadians’ ability to sell protein powders on world markets: they argued that Canada was damaging the entire industry by dumping excess product at artificially low prices.
That’s the issue that first caught Trump’s attention in 2017 when dozens of Wisconsin farms lost their contract with a processor who couldn’t compete with what they perceive to be non-market Canadian rates.
“That hit Wisconsin pretty much right in the jaw,” Daniels said.
The U.S. dairy industry is huge. Its trade volume with Canada is, and will continue to be, comparably minor. (CBC News)
The agreement also gave Americans more access to dairy sales in Canada, which tightly controls the supply and prices of dairy products.
The U.S. International Trade Commission, tasked by Congress with analyzing the effect of American trade agreements, estimated that the pact would increase U.S. dairy output by a mere 0.1 per cent.
Lloyd Holterman, who farms near Milwaukee, calls U.S. dairy competition ‘brutal,’ with survival requiring constant innovation. (Alex Panetta/CBC)
It suggested exports to Canada would grow $227 million a year — which is an increase of exports to Canada of one-quarter to one-half of recent estimated annual volumes. That’s a significant change for Canada.
But it’s closer to pocket change for the U.S. American dairy farms generated approximately $40 billion in cash receipts last year.
A price plunge, then a pandemic
Dairy was hit hard by the commodities bust that sent prices plunging in the mid-2010s, touching everything from oil to food crops.
Then just as things seemed to be picking up after last year, the pandemic struck. Purchases froze up at schools, restaurants and workplaces, which account for nearly half of U.S. dairy consumption.
“The cows didn’t get the memo that said, ‘Hey, we’ve got COVID, slow down,'” said Mark Stephenson, a dairy-markets expert at the University of Wisconsin.
A view of Dave Daniels’ farm near Kenosha, Wis., which has stayed profitable by consolidating assets with neighbours and investing together in new technology. (Alex Panetta/CBC)
“We had a lot of milk that needed to be processed, that needed to have a home. And it’s not like corn — you obviously can’t keep it in the bin for a while, until you find a sale. It has to go.”
Farmers have long had to innovate, or get out of the business. Daniels and the Holtermans describe how they’ve merged their farms with partners, pooled their resources to buy better machines, and done everything from breed longer-living cows to installing equipment that cut the cost of feeding and veterinary services.
Lloyd Holterman said business is now picking up again. He got twice as much revenue last month as in May — people cooking at home are now using more butter, milk and cheese, and products originally destined for commercial establishments are being repackaged for home use.
Half the cost of producing milk goes to feeding the cows. The Holtermans, who run this farm west of Milwaukee, reduced long-term expenses by investing in this grain-feeding system. (Alex Panetta/CBC)
“[Tough times are] an opportunity to get better,” he said. “When things are really good, you get sloppy. … So we’ve actually done pretty well through the downturn.”
But he concedes the constant pressure to innovate can be tough.
“Our system of dairy production is brutal. It’s brutal. Nobody feels sorry for anybody that goes broke,” Holterman said. “That’s the way business is here. … The positive side is we have high quality and cheap prices.”
Some American farmers, including Sarah Lloyd, wish their industry were a bit more stable and are pushing for the U.S. to adopt Canadian-style controls on prices and supply volumes.
But the Holtermans and Daniels doubt that idea will fly in the U.S.; they say they prefer the less-regulated American system, arguing it encourages competition and innovation.
The big export market: Mexico
Another way U.S. farmers have survived the lean years is by expanding trade: export volumes have grown, over a generation, from negligible amounts to 18 per cent of total U.S. dairy production.
The largest market by far for U.S. dairy exports is Mexico, with Canada second.
Wisconsin dairy farmers were more worried that the bigger market to the south might slip away, amid tensions between Trump and Mexico, and his threats to rip up NAFTA.
“There was some offensive things said about Mexico as a country,” Lloyd Holterman said. “They, rightly, took offence to that.”
Sarah Lloyd, right, seen here with her husband Nels Nelson in 2017 on their farm two hours west of Milwaukee, calls the new Canada exports ‘a drop in the bucket’ compared to the major issues that need to change in her industry. (Marie Claudet/CBC)
But a representative of the U.S. dairy lobby in Washington said the new trade with Canada should make a difference. She said a tiny change in markets can have a ripple-effect on prices.
Now, said Shawna Morris, vice-president for trade policy at the U.S. National Milk Producers Federation, people will be scrutinizing whether Canada, in fact, lets more dairy in.
She and others were concerned that Canada has, in past trade agreements and in this one, made it too difficult for foreign companies to access new import quotas, leaving them unused.
Fair market access for our dairy industry was a key pillar of the <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/USMCA?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#USMCA</a>. I’m calling on <a href=”https://twitter.com/USDA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@USDA</a> and <a href=”https://twitter.com/USTradeRep?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@USTradeRep</a> to hold Canada and Mexico accountable for their trade commitments to Iowa’s dairy farmers. <a href=”https://t.co/WddUf9Bbos”>pic.twitter.com/WddUf9Bbos</a>
“The U.S. negotiated really hard for this. It’s not full access to the Canadian market. It’s nowhere even close to it. But we definitely want to make sure we get what we thought we had on paper.”
Election predictions
So does this deal help Trump win Wisconsin again? Trump carried the state by a margin of one per cent last time, and polls show him behind now.
Daniels says it’s going to be tough.
Daphne Holterman, who runs a farm with her husband Lloyd near Milwaukee, says prices keep fluctuating wildly. (Alex Panetta/CBC)
What he hears from people in his area is that those who voted for Trump last time will vote for him again; he suspects, however, that Democratic turnout will spike in cities from its low 2016 level.
“It’s going to be a pretty slim margin if he does [win],” Daniels said.
Lloyd Holterman said he likes what Trump has done on taxes and deregulation. He assumes the state will be a tossup, with the vast majority voting as they did in 2016.
But “I can’t even predict,” he said. “48 hours is an eternity.”
MONTREAL – Laurent Courtois knows his team is struggling.
With CF Montreal on a slide and their Major League Soccer season hanging in the balance, the head coach needs his players to keep their heads high.
“Keep the course,” Courtois said. “Keep the course no matter what happens because we know what we are capable of doing.
“Most of us are extremely convinced we can still make the playoffs. We have suffered a lot lately, but let’s not drag our feet — let’s move forward boldly. In the end, there’s nothing to lose, so give it your all.”
Montreal (6-12-9) is winless in its last four MLS games heading into Saturday’s match against Charlotte FC (10-9-8) at Saputo Stadium.
Courtois’s men slipped to 13th in the Eastern Conference after back-to-back emphatic defeats before the international break. Montreal lost 5-0 at home to the New England Revolution on Aug. 24 before falling 4-1 on the road to FC Cincinnati on Aug. 31.
The team now sits five points behind the playoff line with seven games remaining in the regular season.
Asked what Montreal needs to do to turn things around, midfielder Bryce Duke put it bluntly.
“Win,” he said. “That’s as simple as the answer can get, just win games.
“Stick to the game plan, don’t give up easy goals. Don’t shut off. Obviously, a team is going to score on us, but we just can’t let that situation be ‘Okay, they scored on us, game’s over.’”
Caden Clark, acquired on Aug. 8 from Minnesota United FC, has only experienced defeat since moving to Montreal.
The 21-year-old midfielder said he doesn’t see a team that’s playing poorly but echoed that Montreal has lacked resolve.
“At least in the home game (against New England), we played good soccer,” he said. “We kept the ball, had possession, and tried to create chances through that.
“It’s just a lack of mental focus at certain times that gets us in trouble. That game shouldn’t have been 5-0.”
Montreal has the worst goal differential (minus-23) and has conceded the most goals (58) in the East after the lopsided losses.
Charlotte, meanwhile, has allowed only 29 goals, which ranks second-best in the conference.
Courtois identified Charlotte’s patience, compete level and experience as reasons for its defensive success.
But the visiting side is also looking for a better result on Saturday with two losses and three draws in its last five games. Head coach Dean Smith said Charlotte won’t take Montreal lightly despite what its record might suggest.
“They’ve conceded a lot of goals, so I’m expecting them to look to tighten up,” he told reporters in Charlotte. “But if you don’t respect them, that’ll be at your peril, because they’re a good footballing team. They play in tight situations and a lot of one-touch football. They’re looking to entice you into playing behind you, so we have to be at our best.”
Courtois’s message to his team? Play freely, stay focused and enjoy being on the pitch.
“We owe ourselves something different,” he said. “There are moments where we did good things but didn’t reward ourselves because we let stuff slip away due to a lack of concentration.
“Enjoy the games, bring out the best version of yourself. We know the elements that will put us in a good spot and the ones we want to avoid against this really solid team defensively. Be disciplined, have fun and give your heart.”
HONOURING NACHO
Former Montreal star Nacho Piatti will be inducted into the club’s Wall of Fame on Saturday. He is the sixth player to receive the honour, joining Patrice Bernier, Mauro Biello, Greg Sutton, Nevio Pizzolitto and Gabriel Gervais — the current team president.
Piatti produced 66 goals and 35 assists in 135 MLS regular-season games over six seasons in Montreal (2014 to 2019). The Argentine winger won the team’s outstanding player award four times in a row and was named an MLS All-Star in 2016, 2017 and 2018.
ON THE SHELF AGAIN
Montreal will likely have to play without winger Lassi Lappalainen, who practised alone during training this week. The 26-year-old from Finland has played sporadically this year, often off the bench, due to ongoing injuries, including a groin issue.
He produced three shots in the second half against New England but only played 31 minutes versus Cincinnati.
“It’s complicated. We know his qualities, but we also know he’s struggling to find a rhythm,” Courtois said. “It’s a shame for him.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
As authorities keep searching for a highway shooter in Kentucky, a Friday night tradition of football, pep bands and cheering fans has been sidelined for some towns.
Games were canceled at a handful of high schools near where the assailant opened fire on Interstate 75 in southeastern Kentucky. Twelve vehicles were hit and five people wounded in the attack last Saturday near London, a city of about 8,000 people roughly 75 miles (120 kilometers) south of Lexington.
Security was being bolstered at high school football games that played on Friday evening.
Authorities continue to search a rugged, wooded area where Joseph Couch, the suspected gunman, is presumed to be hiding. The area has cliff beds, sinkholes, caves and dense brush.
Police have urged area residents to be vigilant and look out for their neighbors as searchers try to track down the suspect. Schools have been at the forefront of those safety measures.
Schools remained closed in several area districts, as students shifted to virtual learning. The disruption has paused a range of fall sports, including soccer, volleyball and cross country as well as football.
Among the schools calling off football games were North Laurel, South Laurel and Corbin high schools. The shooting occurred in Laurel County, and Corbin is 14 miles (22.5 kilometers) south of London.
Fans faced an uncharacteristically quiet Friday evening in towns that rally around their football teams.
“Friday night games are huge to our community,” said Tackett Wilson, athletic director at Corbin High School. “It’s a huge part of our community and our school.”
Practices were disrupted as schools took extra precautions while the search for Couch continues.
“Anytime you have a disruption during your season, it’s an issue,” Wilson said by phone Friday. “But you have to error on the side of caution. It’s student safety.”
Corbin officials will try to schedule a makeup football game later in the season, he said.
Amid the disruptions, fans are rooting for the law enforcement officers involved in the search.
“Right now, we are focused on backing our front-line officers and first responders so they can do their job in catching this guy and we can return to a safe and positive environment for our students,” North Laurel athletic director Ethan Eversole said.
He praised the safety plan devised by school district administrators. But students have had a big part of their lives put on hold as athletic activities have been idled.
“Our teams have not been able to practice all week,” Eversole said in an emailed statement.
Kentucky State Police brought in reinforcements to aid with the search, and authorities have bolstered efforts to keep area residents safe as the search continues.
“We will not pull resources away from the search for those other activities,” Gov. Andy Beshear said Thursday. “We just want to make sure that people are ready to try to get back to their day-to-day lives, that there’s that extra (law enforcement) presence where people can feel just a little bit better.”
The day after the shooting, law enforcement officers searched an area near where Couch’s vehicle was found, with a view of I-75. There, they found an Army-style duffel bag, ammunition and spent shell casings, authorities said in an arrest warrant affidavit.
A short distance away, they found a Colt AR-15 rifle with a sight mounted to the weapon and several additional magazines. The duffel bag had “Couch” hand-written in black marker. Couch fired 20 to 30 rounds in the attack, investigators said.
EDMONTON – The Edmonton Oilers signed defenceman Travis Dermott to a professional tryout on Friday.
Dermott, a 27-year-old from Newmarket, Ont., produced two goals, five assists and 26 penalty minutes in 50 games with the Arizona Coyotes last season.
The six-foot, 202-pound blueliner has also played for the Vancouver Canucks and Toronto Maple Leafs.
Toronto drafted him in the second round, 34th overall, of the 2015 NHL draft.
Over seven NHL seasons, Dermott has 16 goals and 46 assists in 329 games while averaging 16:03 in ice time.
Before the NHL, Dermott played two seasons with Oilers captain Connor McDavid for the Ontario Hockey League’s Erie Otters. The team was coached by current Edmonton head coach Kris Knoblauch.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
