Bill C-234, a private member’s bill sponsored by Ben Lobb, the Conservative MP for the southern Ontario riding of Huron-Bruce, passed third reading for adoption in the House of Commons on Wednesday by a vote of 176-146.

The bill, introduced in February last year, amends the federal Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act to extend the carbon price exemption for farmers’ eligible fuel purchases to also include purchases of marketable natural gas and propane.

The bill also expands the allowed uses of exempted fuels, to include grain drying systems as well as heating or cooling of farm structures directly involved in livestock or crop production, such as barns or greenhouses.

C-234 also includes a sunset clause which will see the exemption brought back in eight years for review, allowing whatever government is in place at that time to let it lapse — or to amend or extend it, if new technologies available at that time don’t yet warrant ending the exemption.

Private members’ bills — legislative and policy proposals brought forward by individual MPs rather than the governing party — rarely pass in the Commons but are more likely to gain traction in a minority government. A previous version of C-234, Bill C-206, died on the order paper before the 2021 federal election.

C-234 also drew support from several farmer and commodity groups, including 15 national organizations speaking under the banner of the Agriculture Carbon Alliance (ACA), a policy group set up in 2021 “to ensure that Canadian farmers’ sustainable practices are recognized.”

The ACA, on Twitter Wednesday, called the bill’s passage in the Commons “a huge step towards realizing the full potential of #CdnAg.”

Keith Currie, president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture — an ACA member group — thanked Lobb and supporting MPs on Wednesday on Twitter, adding “Now let’s get it through the (Senate).”

Canadian Canola Growers Association vice-president and ACA chair Dave Carey on Wednesday also credited Lobb’s fellow Conservative MP John Barlow, Liberal MP and Commons standing ag committee chair Kody Blois, NDP ag critic Alistair MacGregor and Bloc Quebecois ag critic Yves Perron for “outstanding leadership” on the file.

In a separate release Tuesday, Andre Harpe, chair of ACA member Grain Growers of Canada, said that “by extending the exemption for qualifying farming fuels to natural gas and propane, this amendment will unlock innovation and drive sustainable growth in the sector.”

“Farmers incur a carbon price when using natural gas and propane for necessary farming practices such as grain drying, land irrigation, and heating or cooling their barns,” GGC said in Tuesday’s release. “As there are no viable alternatives, pricing these activities does not provide a signal to lower emissions from these sources.”

C-234, GGC said, “will allow farmers to invest in practices that drive innovation and new efficiencies that reduce fuel usage by putting money back in their hands.”

MORE READING: Finding ways to maximize grain drying efficiency

The eight-year sunset clause was added at the standing ag committee last November. That clause, Barlow said at the time, is a reflection of Canadian farmers’ confidence that new and sustainable technologies will come forward to replace the gas- and propane-fired options they now use to dry grain and heat barns.

Separately on Wednesday, the federal government announced $22.2 million has been allocated to another 45 projects under its Agricultural Clean Technology (ACT) Program – Adoption Stream, related to “adopting more efficient grain drying technology.”

That brings the adoption stream’s allocations so far to over $37.1 million across 99 grain dryer projects across Canada, the government said in a release.

The adoption stream of the $495.7 million ACT is budgeted for $60 million in all, including $50 million for purchase and installation of more efficient grain dryers and $10 million for “fuel switching initiatives.” — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau on Wednesday announced the $165.7 million Agricultural Clean Technology Program is “now open to applicants.”

First launched in 2018 and earmarked for expansion under the federal government’s climate plan in late 2020, the program was tapped in the 2021 federal budget to allocate $50 million specifically to help farmers purchase fuel-efficient grain dryers.

Another $10 million will go toward “powering farms with clean energy and moving off diesel,” the government said.

Those specific non-repayable contributions are to come from the program’s Adoption stream, which goes to “support the purchase and installation of proven clean technologies and solutions that show meaningful reductions in (greenhouse gas) emissions.”

The program’s separate Research and Innovation stream will fund “pre-market innovation” such as research, development, demonstration and commercialization work on agricultural clean tech.

Applications were to be accepted on a continuous basis starting Wednesday, until funding has either been fully committed or otherwise announced by the program, the government said.

Under the two-step intake process, farmers and other applicants first must submit a project summary form, to help “determine a project’s eligibility and alignment with program criteria and priorities.” Those deemed eligible at that step “will be invited to submit a full application.”

The program “will help our farmers and agricultural businesses adopt new technologies so they can continue to lead the way,” Winnipeg MP Jim Carr, the federal cabinet’s special representative for the Prairie region, said in a release.

“We also recognize that many farmers use natural gas and propane in their operations, which is why the government of Canada has made grain drying a priority focus under the program.”

The government on Wednesday also reiterated its plan from the 2021 federal budget to return a portion of the proceeds from its carbon pricing plan directly to farmers in “backstop” jurisdictions including Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario starting in 2021-22.

From that, farmers are estimated to receive $100 million in the first year, with future years’ returns to be based on proceeds from the price on pollution collected in the prior fiscal year — and rising in tandem with the price placed on carbon.

More details on that plan are to be announced “later in 2021,” the government said Wednesday. — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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The federal and Alberta governments recently announced Alberta farmers seeking to make grain dryer improvements will have access to funding through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership.

The Efficient Grain Dryer Program aims to cover costs for energy efficiency improvements to grain dryers. Retroactive to April 1, 2018, $2 million has been earmarked for farmers through the program that offers funding for 50 per cent of eligible expenses.

Shortly after the program was announced, critics argued it didn’t go far enough to alleviate high costs of drying grain and should have been made available to all provinces.

Grain Growers of Canada (GGC) commended the federal government in a press release for partially covering the cost of grain drying equipment, but asked for “a more immediate and decisive action in the form of a full exemption for fuel used on Canadian farms from the punishing carbon tax.”

Noting the “Harvest from Hell,” GGC said grain farmers cannot continue to pay the price of inaction.

“This will not be the last time where farmers face a tough harvest. We need a legislative and regulatory environment that reflects our farmers net-positive impact contribution towards the climate solution while ensuring a sustainable future for this important industry.”

Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) president Keith Currie also called on the federal government for a further exemption to farm fuels.

“We’re looking for that gas exemption to be extended into all of agriculture, so that we can stay competitive while still living in a northern climate,” he said.

Markus Haerle, chair of Grain Farmers of Ontario (GFO), said, “It’s kind of frustrating to see announcements like that be only regional-specific, because 2019 was a tough year for all farmers across the country, especially around grain drying.”

He said the federal government should re-evaluate the impact 2019’s harvest had on farmers across the country.

“We’re all looking for more efficiency and our equipment that we run and what we do, but don’t single out only certain regions that might be heard,” he said, adding many commodities have to be dried in Ontario every year due to the climate.

“All initiatives that are rolled out by the Canadian government need to be consulted with all industry stakeholders to make sure that not one sector is singled out, or one region is singled out, that we’re all basically treated an equal way.”

While not disputing grain drying technology is dated and in need of modernization, he argued the subsidy being made available to Alberta farmers is “actually minute to what actually a grain dryer costs” and that even when upgrading facilities “every dollar counts” on the farm.

CFA president Mary Robinson said any opportunity for farmers to improve their efficiencies and reduce their carbon footprint are welcome and that CFA would never “look a gift horse in the mouth,” but noted grain drying costs were high in many regions of the country and carbon pricing had a significant impact on farmers in 2019.

“We have an urgent issue right now where we need a reaction and some kind of help to get us through this catastrophic event,” she said.

— D.C. Fraser reports for Glacier FarmMedia from Ottawa.

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The provincial government on Friday announced what it’s dubbed the Efficient Grain Dryer Program, backed by $2 million from the Canadian Agricultural Partnership federal/provincial funding framework.

Applicants can get 50 per cent of eligible expenses covered for grain dryer and grain drying system components that “significantly improve energy efficiency above standard configuration.” (See examples below.)

Similar costs for boosting dryer efficiency had been eligible for grants under the previous provincial government’s Farm Energy and Agri-Processors (FEAP) program, which was accepting applications into early 2019.

A provincial spokesperson said Tuesday that the new CAP-backed program is “not a direct replacement” for FEAP but will be retroactive back to April 1, 2018 “to accommodate nearly 100 applicants who have been waiting since that time.”

Making the program retroactive will also help farmers “who may not have known about the program and purchased eligible equipment in the last two years,” the province said.

Expenses incurred before April 1, 2018 are not eligible, the province noted. Farmers aren’t guaranteed funding until an application has been approved; they can proceed with eligible upgrades before they get approval, but run the risk of not getting funding.

An applicant must be an active Alberta farmer who either has a current Alberta Environmental Farm Plan (EFP) certificate or letter of completion from an EFP technician; or is now working on an EFP and will get the certificate before the end of the project term.

Active Alberta farmers who submitted grant applications under FEAP but didn’t get funding through that program are also eligible, the province said.

Applications under the new program will be reviewed on a “first come, first served” basis, and will be accepted and reviewed as they’re received, the province said. More details and application forms are available online.

What’s eligible?

Eligible parts can be either factory options on new equipment or retrofits installed on existing equipment. Installation and labour costs aren’t covered.

Examples of eligible costs include:

• a new enclosed dryer roof, or enclosed dryer top cover;
• automatic moisture-based controllers;
• high-efficiency burners;
• variable speed drives for electric motors;
• converting a grain dryer PTO to an electric motor;
• insulated plenums;
• exhaust air recirculation systems or heat exchangers;
• gravity-fill roofs;
• electrical or gas submeters on dryers;
• temperature and moisture monitoring cables for in-bin drying systems;
• thermostats or thermometers for plenum or burner temperature control on in-bin drying systems; or
• adapter plates for efficiently fitting external heaters to in-bin drying systems.

Not all grain dryer upgrades are covered under the program, the province noted. It won’t cover costs for standard grain dryer configurations, nor for conversion from propane to natural gas. Other ineligible costs include:

• aeration fans and ducts;
• supplemental bin heaters;
• grain elevators and conveyors;
• grain legs or grain pumps;
• hopper bins;
• additional tiers; or
• readers, software or data subscriptions for interfacing with moisture and temperature cables.

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However, today’s conditions are far from a guarantee combines will run steady and long hours this fall with good dry samples coming out of bins. Without on-farm dryer capacity, high moisture levels at harvest could once again shut down operations for long periods.

John Badry of Forestburg, Alta., thinks his decision to set up a new, high-capacity drying system on the farm last year will prove to be a good one over the long term.

“We started (construction) last spring, in April. So it was going last fall,” he said. “Had we not had it last year, we would have had to get the grain dried somewhere else. Who knows, crop might have been left out in the field. So I think last year pretty much paid for half of it. I think on average you could see a return back on it within five years pretty easily.

“If you can gain a grade on your wheat because you can get it off earlier and dry, it helps pay for itself that way, too.”

Badry purchased a double-stack GSI dryer with enough capacity to put through 1,500 bushels per hour and bring the grain down five moisture points.

“We went with a stackable, three burner dryer,” he added. “We were originally only going to go with a two burner, but we would have had to put up two cooling bins and another leg. But with a stackable dryer we could cool in the dryer and eliminate the two cooling bins and other leg. So it actually saved us money to go to the bigger dryer and having the grain come out cool instead of hot.”

After pricing out five or six different systems from different brands, Badry said he found them all to be generally price competitive. When determining which models and how much capacity his farm needed, he based the hourly drying rate required on how much grain his combines could send to the yard in a day.

“We had three combines, so we looked at how many bushels an hour of tough grain they could do and how long it would take to dry that. We wanted a dryer that would stay ahead of the three combines. So every day we could go out and combine for 10 hours and run the dryer through the night. By morning the dryer could catch up to what we’d done the day before. Plus we wanted to plan for future expansion. We got one a little bigger in case we got another combine, so it would be able to handle that as well.”

Badry thinks the GSI drying system was the equivalent of having an extra combine in the field, at least during last year’s wet conditions.

“The big advantage is you always go combine,” he said. “It really saved us last year. I’d say about 80 per cent of our crop went through the dryer, because everything was so tough and wasn’t drying at all.

“On a dry year, you’re never going to replace having that extra combine out there, but last year it sure saved us. Even if we’d had another combine and no dryer we still wouldn’t have been able to go. (On a drier year) with the drying system, when it’s tough out in the morning you can always get going for sure.”

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Ag Growth International (AGI) announced Tuesday it has bought up all shares in a Nebraska-based competitor, Global Industries, for US$100 million — a deal it expects to be “immediately accretive” with “significant synergy opportunities.”

Global, which operates mainly out of plants in Nebraska and Kansas, makes and markets Hutchinson and Mayrath augers and conveyors, MFS, York, Stormor and Brownie bins and handling equipment and Sentinel building systems.

AGI also expects to bring Global’s Omaha-based mixed-flow grain dryer, aeration and handling equipment business, which operates under the Neco brand, to the Canadian Prairie market.

AGI on Tuesday said the Neco business marks a “new product line” for the Winnipeg firm and will become “an important addition to AGI’s Canadian product offering, especially in light of management’s anticipation of increased acres of corn and soybeans in Western Canada.”

Offshore, AGI added, it has previously bought dryers from third parties when selling bundled projects, and now expects to include Global dryers in some of these projects going forward.

Global’s grain bin businesses, AGI said, are “primarily” in the U.S. Great Plains region and will have “minimal geographic overlap” with AGI’s Westeel line, but those businesses’ stationary on-farm grain handling equipment lines will be “a new addition to AGI’s product portfolio,” the company said.

Global’s stationary equipment business also gives AGI “access to new dealers and customers that are not currently addressed by AGI’s core portable grain handling offering,” the company said.

Global’s Kansas-based Hutchinson and Mayrath businesses deal mainly in bin unloading systems, AGI said, but also include grain loop products, which allow connection of several bins into one storage system and will also be a “new addition to AGI’s product portfolio.”

AGI CEO Tim Close on Tuesday described the deal for Global as a “highly strategic transaction” which will bring “key products, very talented people, and great brands into the AGI group, and significantly increases our U.S. manufacturing capabilities and distribution channels.”

The U.S. grain market, he said, “continues to be a core supplier of the world’s food and AGI is committed to our dealers and customers in this important market.”

Global’s brands in “key” U.S. markets are expected both to expand AGI’s existing product lines and to add new product categories, but also to provide “additional scale to compete against large, global peers in an environment of industry consolidation,” AGI said.

Offshore, AGI added, Global’s customer and geographic focus in offshore markets — which make up about 27 per cent of Global’s sales — is “largely complementary,” making for “potential sales synergies and an enhanced global footprint.”

“It was a very difficult decision for me to decide to sell Global Industries,” Global CEO Jack Henry said in AGI’s release Tuesday. “However, the culture and the way AGI does business were a great fit for Global and I’m very excited for Global’s future prospects as part of AGI.” — AGCanada.com Network

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