Guelph, ON – Grain Farmers of Ontario, the province’s largest commodity organization, representing Ontario’s 28,000 barley, corn, oat, soybean and wheat farmers, commends the Ontario provincial government for cancelling the current Cap and Trade system. In addition to that, Grain Farmers of Ontario is requesting that the provincial government issue refunds to farmers who paid into the program before the repeal.
“We are pleased to see the passing of this legislation and we know that it will provide much needed relief for Ontario farmers,” said Markus Haerle, Chair, Grain Farmers of Ontario. “The cap and trade system that was implemented not only made Ontario farmers uncompetitive in an increasingly competitive industry, but it was not an effective way to actually find solutions to climate change.
“Our farmers have been unnecessarily taxed while having no opportunity to showcase the benefits of new and updated farming practices used quite significantly across Ontario that help to address climate change, or to use those approaches as a means of tax reduction,” Haerle said. “In light of the government’s repeal of the program, Grain Farmers of Ontario expects that its farmer-members will be compensated for the costs they were burdened with to this date as a result of the program.”
Grain farmers in Ontario are land stewards and have:
- Decreased energy use in growing and harvesting corn by 43 per cent in the last 30 years
- Decreased climate impact in corn production by 45 per cent
- Increased land use efficiency in wheat growing by 37 per cent
Source : GRAIN FARMERS OF ONTARIO