KAP Applauds Provincial Government Approach to Carbon Pricing

Dec 05, 2016

The President of Keystone Agricultural Producers is applauding the Premier's of Manitoba's commitment to ensure a provincial carbon pricing system will not hinder economic recovery.

In September the federal government announced that a carbon pricing system must be in place in all provinces by the end of 2018.

Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister has stated a carbon tax must not unduly impact any sector of our economy because our economy needs to be rebuilt and that that any impact must be offset by revenues going back into economic activities that build our province or by directly reducing tax.

KAP President Dan Mazier agrees a carbon pricing system must consider the competitive position of farmers.

Dan Mazier-Keystone Agricultural Producers:

We have no ability to get that tax back out of the system.

We're price takers and it's what ever the market is offering.

Manitoba exports probably 70 percent of their products and, if we're competing against a nation or another place that doesn't have a carbon tax, that is an extra cost that's being borne by our agriculture community that we couldn't compete against so it basically makes us uncompetitive.

That's what a bad system could do.

Source : Farmscape

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.