Private Members Bill C-234 Not as positive as it seems

Mar 29, 2023

Corn dried in commercial elevators is not eligible for the proposed carbon tax exemption

How corn is dried could impact a proposed carbon tax exemption.

With Private Members Bill C-234 anticipated to pass through third reading/vote in the house of commons and transition to the Senate , the Ontario Agri Business Association (OABA) thought it would be timely to share some perspective on Ben Lobb’s proposed bill.

50-60% of the corn grown in Ontario is dried in commercial elevators. As Bill C-234 is currently stated, corn dried in commercial elevators is not eligible for the proposed carbon tax exemption that will result in the majority of Ontario farmers not being eligible for the exemption based on where they choose to dry their grain (i.e. commercial elevator).
In real dollars the exemption would result in a ~$14 per acre (corn) cost of production discrepancy for an Ontario corn farmer that uses either on-farm drying (tax exempt) or commercial. As of April 1 that discrepancy increases to $18 per acre when the carbon tax increases from $50 to $65/t.

“As a sector we cannot have government policy that results in winners and losers within the marketplace for undertaking a necessary grain management process where there are no realistic large-scale alternatives,” says Russel Hurst, Executive Director, OABA.

OABA has indicated it will be reaching out to Senate committee members in the near future to ensure they are aware of the challenges the proposed legislation has on both industry and the majority of Ontario farmers that rely on commercial grain elevators to dry their grain/oilseeds and look to seek further amendments to the legislation to ensure sector competitiveness.

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.