Primary producers worried about carbon-pricing calamity

Jul 06, 2017

Saskatchewan, Alberta in strongest opposition to carbon pricing, says poll

By Kaitlynn Anderson

Farms.com

Basic economics can explain the disproportionate effect Canada’s primary producers will face under the federal government’s proposed carbon-pricing plan.

That’s the assertion coming from the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS).

The organization said today that, unlike other areas, primary producers do not have the ability to distribute added costs down the value chain. Farmers are price-takers – they do not set the price they receive for their raw goods.

Agriculture is a high-risk endeavour, and adding a carbon tax will contribute to this risk.

Getty Images - Andrew Penner

“When you add in the impact of all inputs, costs could go up between $15 and $20 an acre at $50 per tonne,” Todd Lewis, APAS president, explained in a release today.

“Because energy and input costs are such a large factor in farm profitability and can’t be passed along the value chain, producers already have a lot of incentive to reduce operating costs by operating as efficiently as possible.

“When more efficient technologies, crops and management practices are available, they are quickly adopted. More crops and livestock are now being produced than ever before, with a lower energy footprint.”

The national carbon tax is facing declining support – to 44 per cent last month, down from 56 per cent in April 2015 – according to poll results released today by the Angus Reid Institute. Opposition has increased sharply in Western Canada, with Saskatchewan at 71 per cent and Alberta at 68 per cent against the plan.

With the influence agriculture has on the carbon cycle, these may not be surprising sentiments.

“Saskatchewan crop producers currently sequester an additional 8.5 megatonnes of carbon through improved management practices every year, and Prairie pastures sequester over two billion tonnes,” Lewis said in the release.

APAS will be holding a Carbon Summit in Saskatoon on July 13 and 14 to discuss agriculture’s role in sequestering carbon.

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.