Legislative amendments that would exempt farmers’ eligible purchases of natural gas and propane from federal carbon pricing are now en route to Canada’s Senate. Bill C-234, a private member’s bill sponsored by Ben Lobb, the Conservative MP for the southern Ontario riding of Huron-Bruce, passed third reading for adoption in the House of Commons on […] Read more
Tag Archives Grain drying — page 3
Carbon price exemption for farm gas clears Commons
Bill C-234 next headed to Senate
Finding ways to maximize grain drying efficiency
Costs are not coming down, but some options can make a difference
Despite higher commodity prices, growers are being encouraged to examine their costs across all facets of their farming operations. The impact of higher drying costs was the focus of a presentation during the first day of the Innovative Farmers Association of Ontario (IFAO) annual conference, held in London last month. Drying charges have become a […] Read more
Farm scale viability of fossil fuel alternatives questioned
Testimony continues on whether farmers should be exempt from carbon pricing on more fuels
Glacier FarmMedia – The chief executive officer of the Agri-Food Innovation Council (AIC) has said the technology to replace fossil fuels with alternative sources isn’t yet scalable. Serge Buy told the standing committee on agriculture recently that examples of farmers using biomass to dry grain are just that, and only larger farms with bigger, healthier […] Read more
New farm fuel carbon tax rule to return to Commons
Further carbon pricing exemptions clear ag committee, with sunset clause added
A bill that would exempt more farm fuels from Canada’s federal carbon pricing scheme has cleared the Commons’ ag committee and returned to the House of Commons to seek a third and final vote. C-234, a private member’s bill sponsored by southwestern Ontario Conservative MP Ben Lobb, appeared before the Commons’ standing committee on agriculture […] Read more
New technology uses radio waves to dry grain
Eliminating heat gets rid of the need for propane or natural gas
Glacier FarmMedia – Few farmers can likely envision using radio waves to dry grain one decade into the future. But Kevin Eichhorn not only envisions such radical radio frequency drying technology, he’s building it. The Eden Prairie, Minnesota, inventor connects an off-the-shelf radio frequency wave generator to his dryer using a coaxial cable. He calls […] Read more
Near infrared grain moisture monitoring goes portable
Taking NIR from the lab to the field and now to portability puts producers in control of their products
Glacier FarmMedia – Moisture is one of the most significant controllable variables for grain producers. It matters when growing, harvesting, buying, selling, processing, preparing and shipping. Moisture impacts profitability at every stage. The latest grain moisture measuring technology available to farmers is near-infrared, or NIR. It offers significant benefits compared to traditional methods such as […] Read more
Opinion: Carbon tax exemptions needed
Bill C-234, a private member’s bill that would exempt more farm fuels from the carbon tax, promises to meet some of the federal government commitments made when the price on carbon was originally planned. It is superior to a government-initiated bill, C-8, now being considered in Parliament. In the initial plans to put a price […] Read more
Biomass grain dryer heating up interest in on-farm alternative fuels
The cost of natural gas, propane and carbon taxes continue to climb pinching farm returns
Increasing propane costs and the carbon tax lit a fire under Matt Kittell to invest in a biomass grain dryer. Kittell said three factors spurred him and his father-in-law John Henderson, to research a different way to dry grain on their Mount Brydges farm by replacing their four-year-old propane dryer. Why it matters: The rising […] Read more
Opinion: Relief on drying costs needed to meet federal sustainability goals
In the past few years we’ve heard numerous times that the federal government wants agriculture to be an economic driver for Canada. It also wants agricultural production to be greener. Both can certainly be achieved. But changes to the federal carbon tax scheme, the Greenhouse Gas Polluting Act, need to be considered for this to […] Read more
Carbon tax refund for grain drying urgently needed: GFO
Grain Farmers of Ontario (GFO) is urging the federal government to create an exemption on the Carbon Tax that it is currently levying on Ontario grain producers immediately, and to issue a rebate of taxes paid to date. On Dec. 14 a tax credit was announced in the federal government‘s Fall Economic Statement that still […] Read more
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