B.C. Greenhouse Growers get permanent carbon tax break

Posted on April 11, 2013 By Flowers Canada Posted In Announcements

British Columbia's greenhouse growers will now get a permanent exemption from the bulk of the province's carbon tax on their natural gas and propane use - with a similar break expected to follow for farm fuels.

Telegraphed in the provincial budget in February, the new exemption announced Tuesday will come in the form of grants for the commercial greenhouse sector, including vegetable and floriculture growers, wholesale producers and forest seedling nurseries.

The grant will be available for 2013 and future years, and will be set at 80 per cent of the carbon tax paid on natural gas and propane used for heating and carbon dioxide production.

Such a rebate "helps to level the playing field for B.C. flower growers," United Flowers Growers Co-operative Association chair John Kerkhoven said in the province's release. "Our commodity prices are often set to compete with growers from other provinces and countries, and now our heating and tax costs are more comparable."

To be eligible, greenhouse operators must be running at least 5,000 square feet of heated greenhouse production space, using natural gas or propane for greenhouse heating and/or the production of carbon dioxide.

At least 75 per cent of an eligible producer's total B.C. commercial greenhouse production area must be dedicated to the production of vegetables, floriculture, nursery crops and/or forest seedlings, with annual sales of at least $20,000.

The province's grants will be based on the volumes of fuel used by eligible operators for eligible crop production in 2012, multiplied by its 2013 carbon tax rates of 148.98 cents per gigajoule (5.7 cents per cubic metre) for natural gas and 4.62 cents per litre for propane.

Application packages for the new program are to be available before May 1, the province said.

"Providing relief to the greenhouse sector recognizes that although it is not the only industry with competitiveness challenges, greenhouse growers are distinct from most others in that they need carbon dioxide and purposely produce it because it is essential for plant growth," Finance Minister Michael de Jong said in Tuesday's release.

"B.C. greenhouse growers have invested heavily in technology and innovation, with sales over $500 million in 2011, and the B.C. government wants to support and sustain that growth," Agriculture Minister Norm Letnick said in the same release.

Also projected in February's budget, and reiterated Tuesday, was the province's plan to introduce legislation this fall for a carbon tax exemption for farmers on the same coloured motor fuels and uses for which they're now exempt from the province's motor fuel tax.

That carbon tax exemption would cover motor fuels used in on-farm equipment such as tractors, and fuel used on-highway in eligible farm vehicles, Letnick said.

Combined with the carbon tax grants for greenhouse operators, a farm fuel carbon tax exemption would provide a total benefit to B.C.'s ag sector worth about $11 million per year, the province said.

Article originally published in Hortidaily, April 11, 2013

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