Ottawa-MPs and Senators will hear plenty from farmers in the New Year about the financial hardship being imposed on them by stalling a bill to remove the Carbon Tax on grain drying and barn and greenhouse heating and cooling, says the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA).

The bill from Huron-Bruce Conservative MP Ben Lobb was approved by the Commons and close to passage in the Senate when Liberal-appointed senators hit it with amendments that led to its eventual rejection and referral back to the MPs.

“With industry-wide support and the support of the majority of our elected officials, farmers are very disappointed with the way this Bill has been treated and will be advocating to have it passed in its original form in the New Year,” CFA said. The same amendments had already been defeated in the Commons. The bill now is at the bottom of the MPs’ to-do list and it could be months or more it is dealt with.

Meanwhile the National Farmers Union has joined the long list of agrifood organizations supporting the bill, “There is a significant possibility that it will be delayed in the Commons until an election, at which time it will die. The NFU is calling on all political parties to prioritize and pass Bill C-234.”

Glenn Wright, a former NFU vice-president and a Saskatchewan farmer, said farmers who must dry grain have few viable alternatives to propane or natural gas. Those needing to heat or cool farm buildings face a pressing need for financing and incentives to support changes to increase energy efficiency and adopt new heating options. This will be a costly process and “farmers will need extensive financial support to decarbonize the heating of barns and greenhouses.”

The bill also contains an 8-year sunset clause that would require future governments to review and decide whether to extend the exemption based on the technologies available at the time, CFA said.

“Much like home heating oil, crucial inputs to agriculture such as fuel and fertilizer have risen quickly to record levels over the past few years due to inflation, supply chain issues and the war in Ukraine.”

Farmers are already working to make their operations efficient and to use as little fuel and fertilizer as possible. “Due to a lack of available technologies and rural infrastructure constraints in many regions, most farmers have no commercially viable options to adopt alternative energy sources.”

That makes the carbon tax a financial burden without any potential to greenhouse gas emissions, CFA said. “Farmers also face the same barriers as those using home heating oil when adopting new technologies and processes where they are available, large up-front capital costs.

“Ironically, the financial burden created by the carbon tax is sapping the capital which could be used to invest in long-term sustainability initiatives on farms. Farmers are instead forced to deal with their immediate financial pressures, as “they can't be green if they're in the red.”

This news report was prepared for National Newswatch.