It could be tough times ahead for grain producers if the federal government has their way.

High River Chamber of Commerce President Steven Muth, says farmers dodged a bullet in this year's federal budget, but the winds of change are blowing.

"One of the things they've said is they're investigating taking away the ability of grain farmers to defer grain income from one year to another to balance out their income. And I'm like, "Uh-Oh!" Because that have a very significant effect on the tax planning of a lot of farmers."

Muth says the deferral is a hedge against farmers having a bad year and not being able to cover it by spreading income from one year to the next.