Farm Group Says Carbon Tax Costing Individual Farmers Thousands

It was suppose to be revenue neutral and not to harm farmers but according to the Agriculture Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS) the federal Carbon Tax is going to take a bug chunk out of the bottom line of many farmers.

In a report APAS produced figures which it claimed showed agricultural producers will lose 12 percent of their net income to the federal Carbon Tax by 2022 

The federal Carbon Tax was instituted by Ottawa as a means of reducing the amount of carbon dioxide being produced which contributes to Global Warming.

“Federal Minister of Agriculture Marie Claude-Barbeau has asked the agriculture industry for evidence of what the carbon tax is costing Canadian farmers. We have responded with estimates that are backed up by producer bills in 2019,” APAS president Todd Lewis, a farmer near Gray, Saskatchewan, said in a statement.

Grain Harvest 2018 = MJ Independent File Photo

In 2020 a grain farmer with 5,000 acres of land on average can expect to lose eight percent of their net income to the federal Carbon Tax. The federal Carbon Tax will cost a producer of this size on average $8,000 - $10,000 in 2020 APAS claimed.

With the federal Carbon Tax ratcheting up to $50 per tonne by 2022 APAS estimates the cost will be 12 percent of net farm incomes or about $13,000 - $17,000 for the same 5,000 acre grain farmer.

APAS is calling on the federal government to exempt all farm expenses from the federal Carbon Tax including 2019 expenses but have yet to receive a response from Ottawa.