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Agriculture Roundup

Agriculture Roundup for Tuesday December 17, 2019

Dec 17, 2019 | 8:53 AM

A provincial group is pleased there will be a two-year delay on enforcement of new transport regulations that were set to come into effect in February.

Saskatchewan Stock Growers President Bill Huber said his group had been pushing for a delay in the regulations. He said the numbers don’t show there’s enough harm to livestock by keeping them on trailers that much longer.

The new regulations would lower the maximum transport time for cattle to 36 hours from the current 48 hours.

The federal government said the two-year transition period will enable the cattle sector to complete research on infrastructure, education and awareness of livestock transport.

The federal government has decreased the carbon tax rebates Canadians can expect in the new year in three provinces.

These provinces have not adopted carbon pricing models that meet federal requirements.

The biggest drop in the rebate will be in Saskatchewan, where the federal finance department said a family of four will qualify for rebates totalling $809 in 2020, down from $903.

The government has also added Alberta to the mix after that province’s United Conservative party repealed the previous government’s consumer carbon tax.

A family of four in Alberta will see a rebate of $888 dollars in 2020.

Families in Manitoba will receive $486 dollars, a decrease from $499.

The rebates are meant to offset the added consumer costs resulting from Ottawa’s carbon tax of $20 per tonne for 2020, rising to $30 per tonne in 2021.

The Alberta government is extending Renewable Fuels Standard Regulation to 2022.

Biofuels are produced from a variety of agricultural, forestry or waste feedstocks and blended into commercial petroleum-based gasoline and diesel to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The province said part of the regulation extension includes aligning Alberta’s blend rates to ensure a minimum standard of five per cent and two per cent renewable content for gasoline and diesel, respectively.

alice.mcfarlane@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @AliceMcF

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