By Alice McFarlane

Farmers wish to be recognized as carbon net-neutral

Dec 22, 2021 | 11:53 AM

MELFORT, Sask. — It’s the time of year for Christmas wishes.

The Western Canadian Wheat Growers (WCWG) wish grain farmers across the prairies to be recognized as being carbon net-negative.

WCWG chair and Saskatchewan director Daryl Fransoo said farmers pay tens of thousands of dollars in carbon tax directly and indirectly.

He said the proposed federal tax credit would return less than 25 per cent of the costs incurred. With continued increases in the carbon tax, grain farmers are being hurt, Canada’s food security is at risk and Canada’s agriculture sector is increasingly less competitive with jurisdictions that do not have a carbon tax.

Fransoo said Canadian grain farmers are among the most efficient and environmentally-friendly in the world.

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“The federal government should be holding up our standards to the rest of the world and demanding that other countries match them,” Fransoo said.

Farmers have made changes to the way seeding, harvest and weed control is done which has led to higher carbon sequestration, reduced water evaporation and loss of topsoil during windstorms. Auto-steer, improved inputs, precision seeding and fertilizer application, as well as new seed varieties, have all contributed to these improvements.

WCWG president and Manitoba director Gunter Jochum said the government needs to care for all Canadians and hold up the high standards that grain farmers have achieved.

“The federal government needs to explain to grain farmers why they are not being recognized for their decades of strong environmental protection and yet still face crippling financial penalties,” Jochum said.

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alice.mcfarlane@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @farmnewsNOW