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Saskatchewan Commodity Groups Calling On Province To Review Carbon Offset Program

There's a lot of disappointment in the Ag sector around the Province's decision regarding the Saskatchewan Greenhouse Gas Offset Program.
 
Earlier this year a resolution was passed at a number of Crop Commodity meetings in Saskatoon calling on the groups to lobby the government to have
Saskatchewan's farmers recognized and rewarded for their efforts regarding carbon sequestration.
 
SaskBarley, SaskCanola, SaskFlax, SaskOats, Sask Wheat and SaskPulse have sent a letter to the Minister of Environment outlining the benefits that farming practices
like no-till have made when it comes to carbon sequestration.
 
Shaun Dryland is Chair of SaskPulse and says they want to see farmers recognized and rewarded for their efforts in carbon sequestration.
 
"We've been working on this quite a bit, it's been the subject of a lot of our meetings. We've been trying to do what we can, working with the other associations to try to make a difference in this and at the very least voice what our concerns are to the government."
 
He says farmers are taxed on everything they use, but are not recognized for the farming practices they use that sequester carbon through activities like minimum till, continuous cropping and that sort of thing.
 
"The government currently looks at those actions as being business as usual. Our thoughts are that we shouldn't be penalized for being early adopters for doing these practices for the last 15 or 20 years or even longer in a lot of cases."
 
He's encouraging producers to take part in consultations and talk to their MLA's about the issue.
 
He notes they're calling on the Government to review its plans.
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