About 20 minutes off Interstate 15 northeast of Dutton, Montana sits the Doheny farm. It’s situated within a series of lattice gravel roads, with vast green farm land extending out toward the horizon on every side.
“We're in north-central Montana, it's the upper prairie pothole area,” said Eric Doheny. “It's dryland prairie, we get eight to 12 inches of rain a year.”
On a recent Tuesday, Doheny drove those gravel roads to deliver fuel for his son’s tractor. This is Montana’s Golden Triangle, the largest wheat producing region in the state.
“Well, we try to put in around 10,000 acres-plus if we can,” he said. “Generally, winter wheat is our big acreage.”
Doheny is a fourth generation Montana farmer. And for the first time, he says the legacy of his work feels threatened. A 25 percent tariff imposed on Canadian imported goods took effect in February. And farmers like Doheny fear they’re losing critical Canadian business.
“They weren't interested right when the tariffs started and we haven't talked to them since,” he said.
Canada is Montana’s number one trade partner. In 2024, Montana imported $6.8 billion worth of goods from Canada, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. Many of these products, like machine parts and fertilizer, help fuel the state’s agriculture industry.
Montana also sells more goods to Canada than its next 20 largest foreign markets combined. Most exports consist of cattle and pulse crops like lentils and chickpeas.
In 2024, Montana imported $6.8 billion worth of goods from Canada. Many of these products, like machine parts and fertilizer, help fuel the state’s agriculture industry. Montana sells more goods to Canada than its next 20 largest foreign markets combined. Mostly cattle and pulse crops like lentils and chickpeas.
The issue was at the heart of a recent World Trade and Investment conference in Billings. Organized by the Montana World Trade Center, its keynote address focused on U.S. trade policy and its impacts on Montana’s economy.
Montana World Trade Center Executive Director Brigitta Miranda-Freer says the trade war has damaged the relationship between Montana’s agricultural sector and its northern neighbor.
“They are retaliating in response to what the United States government has done,” Miranda-Freer said. “So, when that happens, our farmers and our ranchers, our agricultural producers across this state and across America are really on the front lines.”
An hour northeast of Doheny, John Wicks runs a 3,000 acre organic farm. Wicks says this spring he’s planting half the lentils he normally would, fearing no buyers for his crop.
“Even though the crop isn't harvested, we've already lost, potentially, thousands and thousands of dollars,” Wicks said.
He’s also sold farm equipment that’s become too expensive to repair as costs for parts imported from Canada skyrocket. Many farmers’ Canadian business partners would also truck these crops across the border. As the trade relationships backslide, Wicks says, so has the cost-cutting offer.
“They would pick up my crop on my farm and pay me five cents a pound more than me hauling it somewhere,” he said. “So, they were very competitive and they knew that that's what the market was and they could afford to do that. And now I don't know what we're gonna be left with.”
This litany of cascading impacts from the tariffs pushed Wicks to file a statement in a lawsuit against the United States. Browning Democratic Sen. Susan Webber and Blackfeet Tribal Member Jonathan St. Goddard filed the suit in early April arguing the tariffs are unconstitutional.
Wicks joined to support the litigation effort, alongside Montana Farmers Union, of which he’s a member.
“This is such a big deal that, really, Congress needs to be the one implementing tariffs when needed, and really surgically looking at maybe an unfair trade relationship,” he said. “But the blanket kind of shotgun approach is just destroying decades of hard work.”
The Montana Farm Bureau Federation also expressed concern over the tariffs, but hopes the solutions come from outside a courtroom.
“We're working, especially on the national level with the Administration, to try to exempt some of the things that we need so much, like fertilizer,” he said. “Because the bottom line for our members is already difficult, and anything that increases the price of our inputs is very difficult on our folks.”
Back in central Montana, Doheny says the future feels uncertain. He worries there may not be a farm to hand off to his children.
“It's very concerning,” Doheny said. “It's a lot of sleepless nights and a lot of stress.”
In the meantime, he’ll continue farming and hopes a change comes quickly.
Montana Public Radio is a public service of the University of Montana. State government coverage is funded in part through a grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
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Members of Blackfeet Nation filed a lawsuit against the federal government over recent tariffs imposed on Canadian products. They claim the move impedes tribal sovereignty. -
A back-and-forth over tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on Mexican and Canadian goods has created uncertainty among Montana businesses. Montana’s agricultural producers may be hit especially hard by uncertainty in international trade.
