In almost every major trade deal, there always seems to be some participants who gain more than others.

Manhong Zhu is studying agricultural economics at the University of Florida and has examined the Trans Pacific Partnership. She feels countries like Japan are a major obstacle to the deal as their farmers have a lot of political clout and receive a high level of government support.

"Over 50 or 60 per cent of producers' farm receipts is from the government support, so they cannot live without government support," she says. "So when there is free trade, (Japanese) agricultural producers will lose because the domestic price will go down, and so because of this, they will lobby against the TPP unless they are compensated."

Meanwhile, Zhu says Canada could see some gains from the TPP, other than the concerns for the dairy sector.

"I think it's beneficial to canola growers and industry because you can actually process canola domestically to have more labourers work in Canada," she said. "And in terms of beef and pork, you can export more pork and beef products to Japan."

Zhu was one of the presenters at the Farming for Profit Conference over the weekend in Moose Jaw.