Thank you, Madam Chair.
I welcome and thank all the witnesses for being here today.
Mark, it's good to see you. Happy agriculture day to all the farmers and members of the agriculture sector in Canada who put food on our table.
I also had the pleasure of visiting Cereals Canada in Winnipeg last summer to talk about the importance of my private member's bill, Bill C-244, to our agriculture sector in Canada. I know that Cereals Canada provides services to cereal producers across Canada, from advocacy to market support. If anyone has a chance to visit it, your lab is very impressive.
I understand that cereals are important in our agricultural exports with an annual export value of over $10 billion. In terms of Ecuador, cereals were ranked the highest-value Canadian export in 2022. When I visited the wheat fields in the Prairies over the summer, some of the farmers shared with me the damage that climate change has caused to them, especially on the harvesting side and on the agriculture and agri-food sector as a whole. While we are advancing and building a more climate-resilient economy, diversification is also very important.
Mark, could you share with the committee the importance of trade diversification to our cereals sector?