For almost 160 years, the Lundell family has owned and farmed land in Cannon Falls.
The corn and soybean farm became the focus of Gov. Tim Walz’s visit Tuesday afternoon, a stop meant to highlight the impact of President Trump’s tariffs.
“For whatever reason, we decided to pick a fight with our biggest trading partners,” Walz said.
In 2023, the U.S. exported nearly $90 billion dollars in agricultural products to Canada, Mexico and China.
The governor said Minnesota’s exports to Canada and Mexico are more than $1 billion to each country each year.
Should the tariffs go on for too long, Walz said he is concerned the U.S. will lose its top trading partners.
“For those who think we’re going to win this, and Canada’s going to give in, that’s a very simplistic way of looking about this,” Walz said.
Danny Lundell said the tariffs will impact the price he pays for potash — a valuable soil nutrient — something he can only get from Canada.
“We need potash to raise healthier crops,” Lundell said.
Mr. Trump recently went to social media, telling farmers to “have fun” selling domestically.
The Lundells said that’s just not realistic.
“We’re a global economy,” Danny Lundell’s wife, Mary Lundell, said. “I mean, you can’t just focus on interior, in the U.S. only.”
Minnesota Agriculture Commissioner Thom Petersen said he hopes calmer heads prevail.
“I was at a plant in southwest Minnesota, who is just working on signing their agreement to go into Canada. Now they’re not sure what they’re going to do,” Petersen said.
