Cam Dahl wants to believe the federal government’s policies toward ammonia are benign, but he can’t shake the feeling that they might fester and create difficulties for farmers.
The executive director of Grain Growers of Canada has been tracking how Environment Canada classifies ammonia. He worries that an increasing tendency to list ammonia as a toxic substance may one day place restrictive regulatory controls on producers.
“That is cause for some real concern,” he said.
Dahl noted that in 2002, the federal government listed ammonia dissolved in water as a toxic substance under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act.
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He said it was intended to target problems such as ammonia making its way into the watershed through municipal wastewater. However, he noted that the government made no distinction to exempt farmers, who apply ammonia fertilizer in liquid form, from regulations that might follow in the future.
He said the same kind of distinction was absent this year when Environment Canada went further and listed gaseous ammonia as a toxic substance. Dahl suggested there is no science to support that decision. At the same time, he insisted that most ammonia released to the environment comes from sources other than agriculture and questioned what the implications for farmers might be.
“Is a chicken barn now a source of a toxic substance?”
Ammonia is an important element in fertilizer for grain and oilseed producers. While common in chemical fertilizers, it is also present in livestock manure, another source of nitrogen for crops.
Dahl said farmers already are embracing best management practices to get the greatest benefit from the fertilizers they apply. When crafting ammonia regulations, he added, government should be more specific about who it targets so farmers do not inadvertently get caught up in restrictions aimed at the main contributors to the problem.
“The major contributors are not farmers.”
Clyde Graham, vice-president of strategy and alliances for the Canadian Fertilizer Institute, has also been following the issue.
He would not give a direct answer as to whether the government direction is a source of concern for fertilizer makers.
When first asked that question, he replied: “I think that Environment Canada recognizes that fertilizer is essential to Canadian agriculture and the production of wholesome food.”
When asked again, he said: “Farm groups, government and fertilizer manufacturers believe the best approach is through best management practices under the agricultural policy framework, and I think that’s where we’re headed.”
