BY KEVIN AUCH
Thanks, but no thanks
Winter
2016
grainswest.com
43
ENERGY REBATES PREFERABLE TOCARBONCREDIT CASH
AGRICULTURE IS A VITAL
industry, growing the food that feeds the
world. It is also an industry that requires
a large amount of land, water and energy,
but farmers have long been on the cutting
edge of new technologies and practices
to reduce these inputs while increasing
production—benefitting both their farms
and the environment.
No matter what anyone thinks of the
goal of switching to more environmentally
friendly forms of energy, there are not very
many non-carbon-based energy options
that are available right now that can power
a truck, tractor, combine or other farm
equipment. There is very little I can do
that I haven’t already done to reduce en-
ergy use and greenhouse gas emissions. I
direct seed with a narrow disk-type opener
to reduce draft and fuel usage, I kill weeds
with a sprayer that uses a small fraction of
the fuel of a soil-disturbing tillage opera-
tion, and my irrigation pivots are low-pres-
sure, large-water-droplet, high-efficiency
systems.
I’ve done soil tests for 30 years and
I’ve noticed there is a general trend of
increasing organic matter in those tests.
While I haven’t done benchmark tests in
exactly the same location over the course
of that time, I would still estimate the
organic matter increase to be about 0.5
per cent in the last 20 years since adopting
ultra-low-disturbance no-till practices. If
the top foot of dry soil weighs 64 pounds
per square foot, my farm has sequestered
approximately 6.3 tonnes per acre of organ-
ic matter in 20 years, or about 700 pounds
per year. Given a fuel use of approximately
10 litres of diesel per acre, it seems that my
no-till practice is taking more carbon out
of the atmosphere than I put in through
my fuel usage—more than 660 pounds out
and less than 22 pounds in.
My low-disturbance openers mean
that I disrupt the soil far less, and, more
importantly, protect the flora and fauna
living there—the flora and fauna that have
been actively moving carbon from the
atmosphere into this living ecosystem at
an accelerated rate ever since we stopped
dragging a cultivator through their home
a couple decades ago. For this environ-
mental service of sequestering carbon,
the provincial government offers a small
payment to farmers through its carbon-off-
set market.
Carbon credits must be applied for, and
I have to use a third-party aggregator who
will charge over one-third of the value for
helping with the paperwork. Yet, I have to
fill out all the paperwork, and contact and
negotiate with landlords for permission to
sell credits. I’m also on the hook for repay-
ing the carbon credits if I change tillage
practices. A few years back, I did apply to
be paid for these credits, and the fact that
I was allowed to apply for six years all at
once meant that the cheque I received was
well worth the time. I looked into it the
following year and haven’t applied since
because the work involved was not worth
the payment I would receive. While my
fuel usage per unit of production has de-
creased dramatically, reducing my carbon
footprint even further, I fear rising energy
costs will vastly exceed even the increased
amount I could apply for in offset credits.
My farm decisions in the past have been
influenced by the benefit that no-till and
high-efficiency irrigation have offered to
the farm. To date, the monetary value of
carbon credits has been minuscule in com-
parison, but the increasing costs of energy
are becoming more burdensome all the
time. If the provincial government is seri-
ous about promoting reduction of green-
house gas emissions in agriculture, I think
my farm, and many other no-till farms like
mine, would be better off receiving larger
tax rebates on our energy costs and forget-
ting the carbon credits altogether.
Kevin Auch is a grain farmer near Carmen-
gay, AB, and is the vice-chair of the Alberta
Wheat Commission.
My farm, and many other no-till
farms like mine, would be better
off receiving larger tax rebates on
our energy costs and forgetting the
carbon credits altogether.
