File photo/CKOM Staff

By CKOM Staff

Saskatchewan farmers brace for financial blows in 2021

Jan 9, 2021 | 5:29 PM

Saskatchewan farmers are bracing for a more expensive year, as the increased carbon tax brings more financial challenges for provincial producers.

The tax started at $20 per tonne in 2019, before increasing by $10 per tonne annually until it reaches $50 per tonne in 2022. The tax will then begin increasing by $15 until it reaches $170 per tonne in 2030.

The Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS) has released estimates of the impact this increase will have on farmers or ranchers in the province.

The estimations saw that producers could expect to lose 8 per cent of their total 2020 net income to the carbon tax. For a household managing a 5,000-acre grain farm in Saskatchewan, it was estimated it would see an $8,000 to 10,000 loss, with those losses becoming more substantial every year.

Todd Lewis, president of APAS, says the tax increases will only bring financial hardships to farmers in the province.

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“Hundreds of millions of dollars will be coming off the bottom line of producers and within this province throughout the decade,” Lewis said. “It’s going to be a significant hit on our bottom lines moving forward.

“We are facing a large disadvantage.”

According to the Environment Of Canada, 10 per cent of Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions are from crop and livestock production, excluding emissions from the use of fossil fuels or from fertilizer production.

Farmers in the province have made major changes to how they treat their land, such as converting marginal crop land to perennial grass or trees, planting shrubs and trees as shelterbelts or even adding animal manure to the soil in certain cases.

Lewis says that a lot of farmers in the province have been taking their carbon footprint seriously.

“We’re not saying we can’t make improvements, I just don’t feel that the carbon tax is the right way to force it because, in fact, it’s going to actually make it harder for us to lower our carbon emissions,” he said. “Producers are always looking to improve their carbon footprint, we’re producing more pounds of meat and more bushels of grain than ever before and with a lower and lower carbon footprint.

“It’s important that we were able to have a sustainable and profitable industry and extra charges and taxes like we’re seeing now isn’t going to help that.”

It’s not just the carbon tax that is troubling provincial producers, as record breaking dry conditions have created challenges as well.

Southern Saskatchewan saw unusually dry conditions in 2020, with the Moose Jaw area seeing the least moisture ever recorded in the region since Environment Canada started keeping track of precipitation levels for the area in 1916.

“If we don’t have moisture, we don’t have crops or grass for our livestock, so it’s very worrisome,” Lewis said. “We need to see some better conditions this year and farmers are certainly hoping mother nature operates.

“It makes sense that farmers are worried this year.”

Despite what provincial producers are dealing with, Lewis says they are more resilient than ever.

“I think the biggest difference between the carbon tax and the weather is that the weather we can improve,” Lewis said with a laugh. “But the carbon tax isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

“All farmers and ranchers are optimistic, that’s what we’re in the business for, we will keep moving forward and voicing our concerns.”