Ontario Grain Farmer April/May 2021

Ontario’s grain elevators play an important role in making our crops viable for domestic and international markets. We understand their cost of operation is being impacted by the carbon tax and we don’t want to see that cost passed along to our farmer-members. Foster fears the impact of the additional increases still to come over the next nine years. “It’s only going to get worse; and I feel strongly that we who are very dependent on fossil fuels are being taxed beyond measure, we don’t have an alternative as we can’t dry our corn, soybeans, and wheat with wind mills and solar panels.” CONCERNS Another frustration for many grain farmers is the lack of acknowledgement for the actions they have taken to improve and protect the soil, reduce emissions, and prove their environmental stewardship. Greenhouse gas emissions are produced when we grow our crops (see page 10 for details), however, practices such as reduced tillage, cover crops, and crop rotation have significantly reduced our carbon footprint over the past 30 years. In addition to the unaffordability of the government’s current climate action plan, Grain Farmers of Ontario has several other concerns it has raised with federal officials. There is a lack of off-the-shelf solutions for grain farmers to reduce their carbon emissions. There is a lack of opportunities to participate in the new carbon economy that is being created including no meaningful carbon credit protocol for grain farmers. There is no recognition within the system of the carbon sequestration that already exists on farm for wetlands and other biodiverse land. “We are constantly voicing our concerns with government,” says Byrne. “If we aren’t involved and having these discussions now it’s not going to get any better. It’s our job at Grain Farmers of Ontario to make sure they understand how this is affecting us at the farm level.” Farmer-members are also encouraged to contact their MPs and share the impact the carbon tax has had on their business, if possible through tangible increased costs. l 8 continued from page 6