Saskatchewan Cattlemen’s Association CEO speaks out on carbon tax increase

Grant McLellan is a bit uneasy as the federal carbon tax increase officially kicks in Saturday.

McLellan, the CEO of the Saskatchewan Cattlemen’s Association, said that’ll be tough on producers, especially since the beef industry is facing problems with margins and profitability.

The House of Commons recently passed Bill C-234, which is an exemption from the carbon tax for necessary farm practices such as irrigation, grain drying, feed preparation, and heating or cooling of barns and greenhouses.

“Even though there are some exemptions for agriculture, we know that it’s not enough,” McLellan said. “And it still increases the cost for our producers to pay freight to get animals to market and then all the way up the supply chain to the consumer and consumers are going to see that hit them in the pocketbook.”

McLellan also expressed concern over the plan’s goal of reaching $170 per tonne by 2030.

“(That) is 240 per cent higher than it is today,” he said. “What’s that going to do to inflation?”

McLellan said the tax will change the way producers do business.

“There’s only one way to adapt to increased costs and that’s going to be lower inputs,” he said. “But it may ultimately lead to a change in business practice.”

McLellan said consumers will also feel the effects of the increases.

“I think it only stands to reason that when you see increased costs, people are going to make different choices,” he said. “That’s the whole premise of carbon tax.”

McLellan said the absolute last thing he wants to see is producers go out of the livestock market.