In Short : Farmers and ranchers are being encouraged to share the financial impact of the carbon tax on their operations. This initiative seeks to gather insights into how carbon pricing affects agricultural communities, providing valuable data for policymakers and fostering a more inclusive approach to climate-related policies.
In Detail : How much have you paid in carbon taxes for essential operations such as drying grain, heating barns and greenhouses, irrigating land, or preparing feed?
A campaign initiated by the Agriculture Carbon Alliance (ACA) is asking producers to upload their receipts showing the carbon tax portion of the bills for critical components of each farm and why farmers need Bill C-234 in its original form.
Saskatchewan Cattlemen’s Association CEO Grant McLellan said farmers and ranchers are feeling the impact of the carbon tax even more this year.
“We suffered another year of significant drought and producers had to source feed from all parts of the province and from outside of the province, and that carbon tax is applied to their freight charges,” McLellan said. “We found that it wasn’t necessarily just the cost of feed that was prohibitive. It was getting it to the animals and the carbon tax is a huge part of that.”
ACA said the campaign is an opportunity to set the record straight with legislators and show the actual cost of the carbon tax. ACA will be compiling, analyzing, and anonymizing the data to present it directly to Senators, MPs, and Ministers.
Only the farmers’ first name, province, and commodities produced will be shared.
Over the last two months, over 8,000 letters have been sent to Senators and the Prime Minister’s office expressing concern about the financial impact of the carbon tax.