The Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS) has updated the costs resulting from Monday’s increase in the carbon tax from $65 per tonne of CO2 equivalent to $80 dollars per tonne.

Since 2019, APAS has tracked the cost implications using a per-acre example of wheat production from the farmgate to port position.

According to the latest figures, a farm producing a 62-bushel-per-acre wheat crop in the black soil zone could expect to incur an additional $7.24 an acre in costs due to the federal carbon price. Based on the assumption that the carbon cost will continue to rise $15 a tonne annually, APAS estimates the carbon tax will hit $17.31 an acre by the end of the decade.

Another example is the cost to a hypothetical farm growing 5,000 acres of wheat, canola, barley, peas and oats in the black soil zone. The total carbon tax for that farm ranges between $22,678 and just over $30,000 under various production scenarios and specific grain drying requirements.