Support Needed for Agriculture's Efforts to Address Climate Change

Farmscape for March 7, 2018

The President of Keystone Agriculture Producers is encouraging governments to demonstrate support for action taken by agriculture to address climate change.
Last month Manitoba signed on to the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change, just ahead of a deadline to qualify for federal funding under the Low Carbon Economy Leadership Fund and signaling the federal government's acceptance of the Made in Manitoba Climate and Green Plan.
Keystone Agricultural Producers President Dan Mazier says, while he is pleased that the federal government has agreed to allow the Manitoba plan to move forward there are still some questions.

Clip-Dan Mazier-Keystone Agricultural Producers:
We've been always advocating for exemptions for farm fuel, which we know has been established as far as the plan but, more so, we still have the discussions around space heating when it comes to confined livestock operations and grain drying.
So we still have some things on the table and we're still negotiating on that side.
The other part is we have always wanted it to be a transparent process.
But we wanted some money to go back, if there was going to be a carbon tax implemented in Manitoba, we always wanted it recycled back into agriculture so we could adapt to this new reality of pricing carbon but more importantly so we could adapt to the new reality that we have a price on carbon. but we also have a changing climate.
I think adaptation, as we move in that direction, and taking that money and funneling it to agriculture I think that would be the best bang for the buck.
That's how we've been approaching it all the way through here and I it seems like things are starting to come together for us.

Mazier says agriculture has an opportunity to address climate and needs support to do so.
For Farmscape.Ca, I'm Bruce Cochrane.


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