U.S. and Canada: Growing Together

Video transcript

[An important message appears on a black screen.]

Text on screen: Dear neighbors, this video was shot prior to COVID-19. With the pandemic, Canada has remained and will continue to be a committed trading partner with the U.S. We're focused on ensuring food security, protecting workers and supporting jobs and businesses on both sides. Cheers, your Canadian Neighbors.

[Cheerful, upbeat music begins.]

[Video opens with a clip of a transport truck driving down a country road.]

Voice of Arnie Peterson: It starts back in the 70's when…

[Cut to sign for the town of Gretna, Manitoba. It has a U.S. flag on one side and a Canadian flag on the other.]

Arnie: ... we would come to Gretna to buy parts.

[Cut to aerial clip of farm fields and a tractor driving down a dirt road.]

Voice of Lloyd Wiebe: We are six miles from the U.S. border. We do a lot of...

[Cut to clip of a livestock transportation truck entering a truck lot.]

Lloyd: … cross-border trade.

[Cut to aerial clip of Arnie and Lloyd standing on a dirt road between two farm fields on the Canada-U.S.border.]

Arnie: It's a division of two countries, but it all works the same.

[A white rectangle with text appears on screen.]

Text on screen: U.S. and Canada. Growing Together.

[Cut to Arnie Peterson standing for an interview in a seed harvesting yard. A white banner with text and an image of a U.S. flag appears on screen.]

Text on screen: Arnie Peterson. Farmer, Cavalier ND.

Arnie: My name is Arnie Peterson, I'm from Cavalier, North Dakota which is at the north end of the Red River Valley.

[Cut to Lloyd Wiebe standing for an interview in the same location. A white banner with text and an image of a Canadian flag appears on screen.]

Text on screen: Lloyd Wiebe. Farmer, Altona MB.

Lloyd: I'm Lloyd Wiebe, a third generation grain and seed production farm in southern Manitoba.

[Cut to an aerial clip of Lloyd's farm.]

Lloyd: We also own two livestock operations.

[Cut to Lloyd being interviewed.]

Lloyd: So, what we do is we produce baby pigs and we ship them down into the Midwest.

[Cut to Arnie being interviewed.]

Arnie: Your livestock on the Canadian side comes to the U.S. for processing…

[Cut to a livestock transportation truck pulling out of a trucking yard.]

Arnie: … and then it's exported as pork chops, ham…

[Cut to a woman browsing meat in a grocery store.]

Arnie: … that type of stuff.

[Cut to aerial clip of Arnier and Lloyd walking down a dirt road between two farm fields on the Canada-U.S.border.]

Arnie: Which is helping our side of the border provide corn…

[Cut to Arnie being interviewed.]

Arnie: ... and soybean meal for that livestock.

[Cut to Arnie and Lloyd talking and laughing together.]

Arnie: So it's a cooperation between the two countries…

[Cut to Arnie being interviewed.]

Arnie: … 100%. And it works well.

[Cut back to Arnie and Lloyd talking and laughing together. Cut to Lloyd being interviewed.]

Lloyd: Yeah, it's super important that we keep that cross-border trade open and simple.

[Cut to aerial clip of seed harvesting yard on Lloyd's farm.]

Lloyd: There's a lot of risk that we have that we can manage...

[Cut to Lloyd being interviewed.]

Lloyd: … so we can manage currency risk, we can manage…

[Cut to aerial clip of a grain harvester making a line in a field.]

Lloyd: ... our grain risk, we can manage...

[Cut to Lloyd being interviewed.]

Lloyd: … a lot of our pricing risk. The one thing we can't manage is political risk.

[Cut to Lloyd and Arnie leaning on a pickup truck chatting.]

Lloyd: What we've seen is increased, you know, trade debates...

[Cut to Lloyd being interviewed.]

Lloyd: … but our relationships have gotten stronger with the people that we work with in the Midwest, southern Minnesota, north-west Iowa. Our relationships with them are stronger than...

[Cut to the two of them talking and laughing together.]

Lloyd: … probably the relationships with my neighbours.

[Cut to Arnie being interviewed.]

Arnie: A few years ago I worked for American crystal sugar as an agriculturist and it's required that we measure all the sugar beet acreage. So, I was measuring one day and I found out that I was in Canada because at the corner was the Canadian border post, and I was 4 rows into Canada. So, the border is basically an imaginary line, but somebody is farming on each side, and it doesn't matter. The dirt is the same, the crop is the same.

[Cut to clip of a tractor driving down a farm road. A white square with text and an illustration of red transport trucks appears on screen.]

Text on screen: U.S. agricultural imports from Canada = $24.7B.

[Cut to Lloyd and Arnie leaning on a pickup truck chatting. A white square with text and an illustration of blue transport trucks appears on screen.]

Text on screen: U.S. agricultural exports to Canada = $25.6B.

[Cut to clip of tractors near the seed harvesting yard. A white square with text and illustrations of people appears on screen.]

Text on screen: Every $1B in U.S. agricultural exports supports approximately 8100 American jobs.

Arnie: Bilateral trade is necessary for both economies...

[Cut to Arnie and Lloyd standing on a dirt road between two farm fields on the Canada-U.S.border.]

Arnie: … and the easier we can make...

[Cut to Arnie being interviewed.]

Arnie: … the transition across the border for all the products is beneficial to both countries. Our side, Canadian side – all is well.

[Cut to close up of Arnie and Lloyd standing on the same dirt road.]

Arnie and Lloyd together: Let's keep a good thing growing.

[Pan out as they shake hands. A white rectangle with text appears on screen.]

Text on screen: For more information, please visit agr.gc.ca/agpartners.

[Cut to the Canada wordmark. Cheerful, upbeat music ends.]

Text on screen: Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, represented by the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food (2020).

[Screen cuts to black.]