ESCONDIDO, Calif. (KGTV) – There seems to be a common theme of unknown with the time with the tariffs implemented by President Donald Trump.
“Particularly for our county, there’s a lot of unknowns,” Dana Groot, President of Farm Bureau San Diego County, said. “Farmers, I think as business people, are used to having a lot of variables in their businesses that are beyond their control.”
When it comes to the tariffs, Groot said it’s important to note that San Diego County grows a lot of specialty crops like strawberries.
So, they’re not as big of an exported commodity.
“San Diego County is not going to be subjected to the same issues that say the big almond growers or pistachio growers in the Central part of California or the big soy and corn farmers in the Midwest,” Groot said.
But Groot said there could be an impact to products local farmers need to bring into their business.
“Particularly in the fertilizers. A lot of the potash fertilizer comes from abroad,” Groot said. “And packaging. The raw materials for packaging sometimes come from China.”
The Farm Bureau’s website states data from 2021 to 2022 showed the County produces more than $1.8 billion in agricultural goods per year.
But Groot told ABC 10News it might be too early to tell if local farmers will be hit exporting their goods, as he said many are playing the waiting game.
“If the ability to export their products say to Canada later in the season is an issue, they’ll probably look for other markets. Probably domestically and be able to move the product,” Groot said.
