Ag groups calling for passage of Bill C-234

Jun 14, 2023

Senators have only a few weeks before Parliament rises for the summer

By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com

Canadian farm groups are urging senators to pass an important piece of legislation before Parliament rises for the summer.

The Alberta Federation of Agriculture, Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan and Keystone Agricultural Producers are urging senators to pass Bill C-234 before the end of the month.

This bill, introduced by Conservative MP Ben Lobb in the House of Commons, would provide carbon tax exemptions on propane and natural gas used for drying grain and heating barns.

Passing it now is of most importance, the groups say.

“We understand that Senators are looking forward to enjoying the summer season. Prairie farmers want to enjoy theirs by knowing this Bill is passed so they can look forward to the fall harvest,” Ian Boxall, president of APAS, said in the joint statement. “If we experience a wet harvest like 2019, I have real concerns about the added burden farms across Saskatchewan and the prairies will be forced to absorb.

“This Bill needs to be passed by the Senate before June 30.”

The Agriculture Carbon Alliance is also encouraging senators to pass the bill in order to “unlock the full potential of our agriculture sector…”

Senators completed the bill’s second reading on June 13 and have sent it to the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry.

If the bill is not passed before Parliament rises, senators would pick up the process on Bill C-234 when the fall sitting begins.

The carbon tax’s effect on grain drying varies depending on location.

An AAFC report on the matter from 2019 showed farmers in Saskatchewan paid $774 per farm (or 51 cents per acre) in carbon pricing on grain drying, for example.

But in Alberta it was $210 per farm, or 16 cents per acre.

Keystone Agricultural Producers estimated Manitoba farmers paid about $1.7 million in carbon taxes related to grain drying in 2019.

Dr. Sylvan Charlebois from Dalhousie University estimates that by 2030, when the carbon tax is expected to reach $170 per tonne, a 5,000-acre farm could pay more than $150,000 in new taxes.

Video: Spring 2026 weather outlook for Wisconsin; What an early-arriving El Niño could mean

Northeast Wisconsin is a small corner of the world, but our weather is still affected by what happens across the globe.

That includes in the equatorial Pacific, where changes between El Niño and La Niña play a role in the weather here -- and boy, have there been some abrupt changes as of late.

El Niño and La Niña are the two phases of what is collectively known as the El Niño Southern Oscillation, or ENSO for short. These are the swings back and forth from unusually warm to unusually cold sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean along the equator.

Since this past September, we have been in a weak La Niña, which means water temperatures near the Eastern Pacific equator have been cooler than usual. That's where we're at right now.

Even last fall, the long-term outlook suggested a return to neutral conditions by spring and potentially El Niño conditions by summer.

But there are some signs this may be happening faster than usual, which could accelerate the onset of El Niño.

Over the last few weeks, unusually strong bursts of westerly winds farther west in the Pacific -- where sea surface temperatures are warmer than average -- have been observed. There is a chance that this could accelerate the warming of those eastern Pacific waters and potentially push us into El Niño sooner than usual.

If we do enter El Nino by spring -- which we'll define as the period of March, April and May -- there are some long-term correlations with our weather here in Northeast Wisconsin.

Looking at a map of anomalously warm weather, most of the upper Great Lakes doesn't show a strong correlation, but in general, the northern tiers of the United States do tend to lean to that direction.

The stronger correlation is with precipitation. El Niño conditions in spring have historically come with a higher risk of very dry weather over that time frame, so this will definitely be a transition we'll have to watch closely as we move out of winter.