Opinion: GHG debate needs debit-credit balance

May 17, 2023

The home plate in baseball is 17 inches wide.

I listened to a presentation by the University of Saskatchewan agricultural economist Richard Gray at the end of March. In his submission, he suggested there was an error in greenhouse gas emission accounting. Kevin Hursh mentioned this in his column on page 11 of the April 6 issue.

Gray hypothesized that the accounting does not account for the carbon dioxide withdrawn from the atmosphere, converted to energy, stored in a kernel of grain, and exported to a user. The farm does not get credit for that exported carbon.

Industry champions support his hypothesis. I hear words like “rewarded,” and that past practices should be in the reward mix and the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change coefficients are wrong.

But the IPCC protocols for reporting emissions do address this energy transport. The accounting for respiratory emissions is on a worldwide scale. Their protocol is slightly less than a one-to-one debit and credit.

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Video: Syngenta Ag Stories - Reanna Hagel, Channel Marketing Manager

Growing up on a cow-calf operation and small feedlot near Lumby, BC, Reanna learned agriculture the hands-on way with her sister on the family farm. Today, as Channel Marketing Manager for Syngenta Canada, what Reanna loves most about her work is simple: the customer is always at the centre. Whether that's a grower or a channel partner, she understands them on a personal level - because she's the daughter of one. But for Reanna, supporting ag doesn't stop at her job. She volunteers with local 4-H clubs, lends a hand to her farming neighbours, and is raising her own kids to understand and respect the land. Her advice to the next generation? "It's an amazing time to be in the industry - it's going to look completely different in 20 years. To be part of the evolution is very exciting."