B.C. gov’t plans to eliminate vehicle emissions

Nov 26, 2018

Most new vehicles in the province must be zero-emission by 2040

By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com

A planned piece of legislation in British Columbia could have a significant effect on farmers in the province.

On Nov. 20, Premier John Horgan announced that he will introduce a bill in the spring to “put British Columbia on a path to require the sale of all new light-duty cars and trucks to be zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) by the year 2040.”

The regulations will come into effect in stages, with an aim of about 10 per cent ZEVs by 2025, 30 per cent by 2030 and finally 100 per cent by 2040.

Producers use pickup trucks for several farm duties, and some individuals are concerned how rural residents will access the necessary infrastructure for ZEVs.

“We’re hoping that the government has got some great background on how they’re actually going to help us get there because at this point I think it’s a bit of a dream,” Stan Vander Waal, president of the B.C. Agriculture Council, told News 1130 yesterday. “There’s an awful lot of areas in rural B.C. that there is no chance of this going to happen by 2040.”

At this point, any vehicles over 8,500 lbs. (3,855 kg) may be exempt from the emission requirements.

A John Deere 9560RT tractor, for example, weighs between 44,910 lbs. (20,370 kg) and 47,015 lbs. (21,325 kg). But a John Deere 3005 tractor can weigh as little as 1,920 lbs. (870 kg), TractorData.com says.

John Deere 9560RT

Until the provincial government provides concrete details about its plan and how it relates to the ag industry, producers are speculating if a zero-emission tractor would be a viable piece of equipment.

“I don’t know if there’s a battery-powered tractor in the works that can generate the kind of horsepower we need and operate the way we need it to,” Sukhpaul Bal, a cherry producer from Kelowna, B.C., told Farms.com.

Farms.com has reached out to the Premier’s office and the Ministry of Agriculture for comment on the bill and its effect on agriculture.

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Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.