Carbon pricing increases costs for producers, feedlot operators with limited ability to pass on costs
OTTAWA — Carbon pricing policies across Canada could add costs and affect producer competitiveness. “Carbon taxes have the potential to impact business or management programs in unexpected ways,” Brenna Grant, research analyst with Canfax, said at the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association annual meeting in Ottawa March 21-23. A study commissioned by the cattlemen’s association examined the […] Read moreTag Archives carbon tax
Sask., Ottawa continue tussle over carbon tax
The first meeting between Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, unsurprisingly, did not result in an agreement on carbon pricing. Saskatchewan continues to oppose a carbon tax and is the only province that hasn’t signed the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change. The province is currently consulting on the climate […] Read more
APAS hosts carbon summit – Live Stream
The Prairie Agriculture Carbon summit has brought together agricultural producers, researchers, government policy makers and society at large to explore and discuss the role that agricultural practices currently play in the greenhouse gas balance, and the exciting potential that new technologies can provide. The current state of carbon pricing and exchange schemes in Canada, the […] Read more
Carbon tax Down Under went under
This is the final instalment examining the issues surrounding carbon pricing, greenhouse gas emissions and how farmers can do their share without having to pay more than their fair share to do it.
Some Australian farmers saw their costs rise as new taxes shifted money from producers and processors to carbon reduction projects across that continent. However, a change in government put a stop to all that. Half a dozen years ago, a Labour government in Australia brought in an ambitious program that quantified greenhouse gas emissions from […] Read more
Can equipment makers do more to make a greener machine?
Major technological breakthroughs designed to reduce the carbon footprint of diesel engine emissions may not be coming any time soon. “I don’t know of any new technology coming down the pipe,” said Harvey Chorney of the Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute in Winnipeg. “I think they (equipment manufacturers) have gone as far as they can in […] Read more
Meeting EU emission standards can be a hurdle
Farmers might find it easier to reduce carbon and phosphate emissions if they live in a country in which the farm sector is stagnant and oriented toward domestic production. But it’s another thing for farmers operating in places like Canada, where agriculture is growth and export oriented. That’s what two European Union countries similar to […] Read more
Agriculture a solution to reducing carbon
Carbon and climate change policy have been hot topics since the federal government announced its policy on carbon taxation last October. This is especially true in Sask-atchewan with the provincial government’s refusal to participate in the national carbon pricing plan. Agricultural producers have a lot at stake in this discussion, both from carbon pricing policies […] Read more
Ag carbon reduction policies must jibe with food demands
Given the diversity of carbon regimes in place — or about to be launched across the nation — there is one thing in the agricultural industry that is certain: farmers don’t like it. In fact, many farmers are downright angry. This was evident long before The Western Producer’s three-week series on various carbon reduction efforts […] Read more
Alfalfa, grasses top choices to aid in carbon sequestration
Farmers with the goal of sequestering maximum carbon in their soil would plant alfalfa or canola. That was the quick answer to the “best crops to keep carbon” question from Agriculture Canada researcher Brian McConkey. Alfalfa is a nitrogen fixer that puts lots of resources into its roots, keeps the soil dry so it reduces […] Read more
Carbon tax: A bitter pill for farmers
From his west coast vantage point, Stan Vander Waal isn’t sure that carbon taxes do what proponents say: change behaviour to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The chair of the British Columbia Agriculture Council and owner of Chilliwack-based Rainbow Greenhouses has had nine years to observe the tax in practice. He said his operation was already […] Read more
