APAS Releases Report On Impacts Of Carbon Tax

Jan 12, 2021

In December, Ottawa announced more increases for the federal carbon tax that would see it reach $170 per tonne by 2030.

The Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan has done some number crunching on just what that will mean for farmers.

President Todd Lewis says when you look at the costs associated with growing wheat, that would put the cost at over $12.50 an acre in 2030 due to the carbon tax.

"It's really going to affect the sustainability of the industry long-term if we see these increased costs passed 100% on to producers. It's going to make investing in new technologies and improving our carbon footprint, it will make it more difficult to do that. So, it's really counterintuitive to what they're trying to establish here with these changes."

Lewis notes these costs would be even higher in years like 2019, when most of the grain and oilseed crops required grain drying due to a wet harvest.

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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.