Bill won't bring immediate relief but should force the government to acknowledge the issue.Ottawa—The federal government could be facing bills in the Commons and Senate calling for a broader exemption of farm fuels from carbon taxes.Senator Diane Griffin has presented a bill in the Senate to add propane and natural gas to the list of farm fuels exempt from the tax. It would also broaden the definition of eligible farming machinery to include property used for the purpose of providing heating or cooling to a building or similar structure.Griffin's bill should be hard for the government to ignore. She was the chair of the Senate agriculture committee in the last Parliament and could well regain that role when the committee is reformed in the coming weeks. Under her leadership, the committee produced some insight reports.While it isn't clear when her bill might come up for second reading in the Senate, the debate on it could serve as a great sounding board for arguments that farm groups have been making for the last couple of years on the need for a more realistic federal carbon pricing policy when it comes to agriculture.It would also amplify a private member's bill introduced in the Commons by Ontario Conservative MP Philip Lawrence from Northumberland—Peterborough South. He wants the carbon tax fuel exemptions for farmers to be expanded to cover propane and natural gas used in grain dryers. While the bill still has to be accepted for debate in the Commons, both the New Democrats and Green Party have endorsed the proposed exemption.Grain Growers of Canada and the Canadian Federation of Agriculture have been prodding the government to add the grain dryer fuel exemption because farmers across the country have been forced to use their grain dryers to save what they can from the harvest of the 2019 crop.GGC Chairman Jeff Nielsen said there is broad support “for immediate relief from the carbon tax for farmers after the disaster that was last year's harvest. We now need our federal government to step up.”Considering that farmers across the country have to use grain dryers on the crop they have been able to harvest so far, the federal government should directly reimburse them for “the millions of extra dollars they have paid to dry their grain as a result of the carbon tax,” he said.“The most appropriate solution for both farmers and the government is to completely exempt all fuels used in farming operations from the carbon tax,” he said. “A full fuel exemption will avoid the need for any future relief measures after events like last year's harvest.”While Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau acknowledges farmers have had a tough year and says the government will support, she tiptoes around the calls for the grain dryer fuel exemption. She said late last year there wasn't information enough available to make a decision.Lawrence's bill doesn't go quite as far as Griffin's and it could be ruled out of order by the Speaker because it affects government taxing powers. However the opposition parties could push to have its subject matter referred to a Parliamentary committee for further study. That would enable them to keep pushing the government on the issue.Alex Binkley is a freelance journalist and writes for domestic and international publications about agriculture, food and transportation issues. He's also the author of two science fiction novels with more in the works.