Carbon debate hits home on farm
Machinery in the crosshairs of new rules
We call it The Ford. It was purchased brand new when I was only 365 days old. It used to be the farm’s workhorse. That was 36 years ago. It isn’t that anymore. Farming has changed and it’s now too small to do the heavy lifting. But it’s reliable.
The Ford woke up in seconds. The Versatile needed a boost. The Case IH, which is our largest tractor, started like it was a car that had its block heater plugged in all winter. The grain trucks were sluggish, but they, too, reluctantly fired up. The combine needed some coaxing.
My yard is mostly dry. The fields are mostly bare. It’s spring. Things are about to get very busy. My hands are about to get dirty, oily, calloused.
Each of these engines is needed in order for my family’s farm to grow food. They are all important and each one will receive special attention before being put to work.
This process has to be thorough. Maintenance on any farm has to be thorough. A preventable breakdown could cost up to tens of thousands of dollars, increasing already high costs per acre and eroding the potential net profits on a crop, the quality and yield of which hangs in the balance of suitable weather and market conditions.
The tractors line the interior perimeter of our machine shed, each one pointed to the door and each one ready to make the trek across the yard to the workshop for servicing.
The science working behind the scenes in agriculture, bringing us GMOs, higher yields, increased food security is much more complex than most people realize. Between government and industry, hundreds of millions of dollars gets funnelled to agricultural research across Canada. The science is incredible and it has conscience. The level of innovation in this industry is similarly wondrous and similarly thoughtful.
At first glance, farming may not seem like a carbonfriendly enterprise. But this is not necessarily the case. Across Canada, farmers are implementing practices that reduce emissions, maximize carbon sequestration, and otherwise take environmental sustainability seriously. We work with plants. And we work with the soil. Fiscally, sustainability makes sense to farmers. And vocationally, we all became farmers for a reason.
But, as great as things are here in rural Canada, farmers and the industry they operate in are not without fault. We are not perfect. We could also do better. And we constantly need to adapt.
Farmers in Western Canada are now staring down the barrel of a carbon tax or cap-and-trade system. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced plans to implement nationwide carbon pricing by 2018 to help satisfy Canada’s commitments under the Paris climate accord.
The plan requires every province to have, at minimum, a $ 10 per tonne of carbon by 2018. And this price is mandated to rise to $ 50 per tonne over the next five years. Most provinces have already pledged support. But Saskatchewan and Manitoba, my province, have yet to sign on.
It’s a policy challenge. These come to farmers now and again. They are often tricky to understand and delicate to navigate.
Farmers are price takers. Though we produce a unique product for a market that wants it most of the time, we do not set that product’s price. We are vulnerable to the swings of a commodities market that can at times seem quite feral and unpredictable.
Increased taxation will always get our attention. In good years, such a levy worked out as a per- acre expense may be negligible and have little effect. Throw in a storm or an early frost, and a tax could mean the difference between a breakeven year and suffering a loss. Tight margins are not so uncommon.
As with any challenge — be it concerning new technologies, a changing market- place, or unforeseen capital investments — there is a steep learning curve.
As a farmer, it is my challenge/responsibility to understand the details of what’s coming down the pipe and then react accordingly. As the public, it is your challenge/responsibility to see past our reliance on fossil fuels, and to investigate the science behind what we do, the conditions we operate in, and our relationship to environmental sustainability. You may be surprised.