Farmers in Saskatchewan say they don't feel they're being heard by the federal government

On the surface, last week's Canada's Farm Show in Regina was all about exciting new equipment — massive tractors and other heavy duty tools. Under the surface, however, farmers were also expressing serious feelings of frustration with the federal government.

In interviews conducted for a special episode of CBC's focusing on politics in Saskatchewan, farmers spoke about perceptions of agriculture in Canada and what they described as federal government actions that make their lives harder.

«People see our tractors and they see our big equipment and they think farmers don't care about the environment, but obviously the environment's our number one partner,» grain farmer Sarah Leguee told host Catherine Cullen.

«It's just rules for everything nowadays,» said grain and livestock farmer Garnet Printz. «They want to control how much of everything we're using and, you know, the carbon tax… It's rules every which way you turn, it seems like.»

Several farmers at the show who spoke to discussed their feelings of alienation from the federal government, particularly when it comes to environmental issues and the carbon tax.

«It's not like we just love burning as much diesel as possible. But if we need to grow a crop, that is the option we don't have,» Leguee said.

«We are getting sick of being told how to farm.»

While there is a rebate specifically for farmers built into the federal carbon pricing system, it hasn't eased the concerns of farmers at the event.

Capital gains tax changes that will soon go into effect were also a major source of concern among the farmers gathered in Regina. The Grain Growers of Canada has estimated that the capital gains changes could result in a 30 per cent tax increase on the sale of a farm.

Speaking to