Georgia growers are concerned about retaliatory tariffs’ impact on the agricultural industry. The year 2025 could be challenging for producers, especially when facing continued inflation and rising input costs.
The University of Georgia’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences hosted an event at the Georgia Railroad Freight Depot on Feb. 21, bringing together students, alumni and industry leaders to discuss factors impacting food prices and inflation.
“With the threat of tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and other countries, what does the outlook look like for farmers?” asked third-year agriculture business student Michael Howard.
Brad Arnold, senior vice president and general manager of Precision AGCO, responded. He says that as an agricultural equipment manufacturer, those tariffs come with a pretty steep penalty for the company.
“We import a lot of our products from Europe. We export a lot of products from North America into Canada and Mexico, which, if there’s retaliatory tariffs that come to play over the next 30 days,” he noted. “That’s going to have a pretty significant impact on our business.”
“Georgia producers, as we head into spring, unfortunately, are still facing a large degree of uncertainty, economic uncertainty,” added Chris Butts, executive director of the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association.
He thinks that tariffs could increase the dollars in the pockets of local growers by encouraging consumers to buy domestically grown products.
