Rising costs continue to put pressure on Peace Region farmers as planting season struggles to get going.
Prices of seeds, fertilizer, crop protection, and especially fuel have continued to rise over the past several months. The situation has been made worse by a delayed planting season caused by a cold, wet spring.
Cold weather can cause serious problems for the Peace Region, where the planting season is 10 days shorter on average than in central Alberta.
Malcolm Odermatt, a Baldonnel farmer and president of the BC Grain Producers Association, says many local farmers are counting on a warm, dry summer to make sure their crops mature on time.
He also says there’s a pervasive frustration among farmers with BC’s carbon tax, which he says puts them at an unfair disadvantage to the rest of Canada.
“As farmers, we’re stewards of the environment, and we’re storing carbon – we’re sequestering carbon into our soil. We have been since the 80s,” says Odermatt. “And we’re not getting any form of compensation for that, or even recognized for that. And now we’re paying some of the highest fuel prices in Canada. And we’re trying to feed the world, here.”
The BC Grain Producers Association will meet with the Minister of Agriculture in June to discuss potential carbon tax relief options for farmers.
