APAS Pleased To See Bill C-206 Moving Through Parliament

Mar 01, 2021

Bill C-206 is a private members bill which would exempt on-farm natural gas and propane use for grain drying and heating barns passed

second reading this week.

Todd Lewis, President of the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan, says it's good news even if it's only the second reading.

The bill will now move to the Agriculture and Agri-Food Committee for study before returning for third reading after which it moves to the Senate before being signed into law.

Lewis says it's very interesting how the vote went down with all members of the opposition, including the Green Party and the NDP, supporting the bill, and you know, there was even I believe a liberal member voted in favor of it.

He was also pleased to hear the news last week from Minister Bibeau's comments at the Canadian Federation of Agriculture meeting that the Government is looking at some sort of rebate program for barn heating and grain drying.

Lewis says farmers paid significant costs for grain drying in 2019 with the wet harvest.

"The only way to run those dryers is on propane or natural gas. When that extra cost was there, you know, in some instances it was in the thousands of dollars, and even you know as high as in the tens of thousands. So, it's a significant cost and there's no way to pass that cost along to our customers."

He notes it's been a long hard lobby effort, they've pushed pretty hard on this one down in Ottawa, and it's nice to see it finally getting some traction.

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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.