Canada's top ag minister says there's a lot of miscommunications when it comes to Ottawa's plan to cut emissions from fertilizers this decade.
Marie Claude Bibeau says the target is to cut emissions by 30 percent by 2030. She says it's not about forcing farmers to cut back on the amount of fertilizer they use, but many groups say it still means a threat to the business of farming. It also angers many groups that the federal government seems so out of touch with producers given that many have been cutting back on fertilizer use for decades without getting any credit for that work.
The Western Wheat Growers launched an online petition this week they hope people outside of farming will sign. Stephen Vandervalk, the wheat growers vice president is not convinced by the minister's assurances, this is only about emissions. "Agriculture is 97 percent family farm, and why, because corporate farming has failed every single time, returns aren't there. We work on under 2 percent returns on investment. We spend a generation paying off our investment. We've gotten our efficiencies to the point of absolutely ridiculousness. For the government to say we need to do more, it shows you how out of touch they are. For us to have nitrous oxide emissions means we're losing fertilizer. If we're losing fertilizer, our number one expense, we're out of business. We have fixed that decades ago and the government just says 'no we're not giving you any credit for that'. We have a 2020 net reduction number. For farmers to meet that, it's absolutely fertilizer reduction."
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