The Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS) are doing what they can to combat a federally-imposed carbon tax. The subject was the focal point of their annual board retreat, held June 19 and 20 at the Grant Hall hotel in Moose Jaw.

The Liberal government has said they will implement a carbon pricing system in 2019 on provinces that haven't already agreed to create one on their own.  As it stands, Saskatchewan and Manitoba are the only provinces that haven't designed their own plan.

The federal carbon pricing system, outlined in their Technical Paper released in May, would begin with a $10 per tonne charge on carbon dioxide emissions, with that price steadily increasing to $50 per tonne by 2022. The feds say the carbon tax is designed to reduce greenhouse emissions, with all money collected being returned to the provinces to allocate as they wish.

Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall has steadfastly refused to sign a carbon tax agreement, arguing that the province is already employing practices to reduce emissions (citing the Boundary Dam carbon capture storage facility among their initiatives).

Additionally, Wall has countered that a carbon tax would unfairly harm our resource-baed economy, especially the agriculture industry.

APAS agrees, saying at the $50 per tonne price point, $25-$30 per acre in costs would be added to every producer.  Vice-President Norm Hall says the costs would be incurred in a number of ways.

"There would be an increased cost of bringing product to the farm (like) fertilizer and chemical," he explained, plus "the cost of taking our product to the elevator if we're using custom trucker, and then the railways - getting our product to the marketplace."

Hall says there are still plenty of unexplained facets to the proposed carbon pricing system and said they are "going into a game with no rules."  He cites the possibility of exemptions as one example.

"We're thinking we're going to (have exemptions), but only on gas and diesel we burn on the farm," he stated. "They (the government) say natural gas won't be exempted.  What about all of the barns and greenhouses that are heated with natural gas as opposed to coal or wood, or some other higher-polluting fuel?"

Hall also argues that farmers have already made great strides in reducing emissions over the last decade or more.

"What about the carbon we're sequestering in the soil through better management practices in livestock with forage and pastures and in grain operations with better tillage practices?" he wondered. "We're getting more efficient all the time. With GPS we're not using as much fertilizer and fuel. There are so many unknowns."

Hall says they need to respond to the Technical Paper soon but are also planning an event aimed at spreading their message in July - a Carbon Summit.

"We're bringing together a body of experts," explained Hall of the Saskatoon event set for July 13 and 14. "We have to respond to the federal government by June 30, but we still want to have this for our own purposes, and to inform the public."

"We're inviting experts in carbon (like) the Saskatchewan Soil Conservation Association and the Global Institute for Food Security will also provide experts," said Hall of the summit. "We've got quite a good circle of information."

Hall is hoping the summit will not only educate producers and the public (anyone can attend) but advance their opposition to the proposed tax with the federal government.

"Anytime we want to discuss carbon with the federal government they've been open to us," Hall said, adding that "the reception to our carbon summit has been good. We're not sure if the federal minister will be there, but there will be federal officials and MPs as well."