Agriculture committee  Farmers.

Agriculture committee  How do we assert our position on the markets...?

Agriculture committee  It's a very broad sector. There is lot of niche and a lot of variety within commodities. A good example would be dairy and butter, where we saw butter being sold below the cost of production this past year. There are definitely farmers who are not getting that.

Agriculture committee  Yes.

Agriculture committee  I would say that all of the links in the chain have increased cost increases. In particular, I think of diesel prices in the trucking sector. It's very difficult to answer that question. It goes back to the point Tyler made: We need more information to be able to answer that question accurately.

Agriculture committee  Yes, it has. We asked for it to come back to producers, in order to enable them to invest in technology and improve sustainability in our production systems. Very importantly, we understand it's muddy waters now—sending the money directly back to producers. We're trying to find a way to make sure the bulk of it comes back to producers in some way so that it gets used towards something that will bring benefit for the greater good.

Agriculture committee  Thank you for the question. I'm definitely not a professor. I'm a farmer. It's a great comparison, because I think it really highlights the fact that stability brings resilience. I should have said in my opening remarks that, on the cost of egg production, we're seeing a 13.8% increase in cost.

Agriculture committee  I think so. I'll let Scott finish up. Farming, for a lot of people, is pretty big business. Those numbers.... What we've seen in BRM, for example, is that we haven't even kept up with the cost of inflation with the funding of our business risk management suite of programs. Those numbers, from a producer's perspective, could always be stronger.

Agriculture committee  The short answer is yes. The longer answer.... Scott, do you want to answer?

Agriculture committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Hello. My name is Mary Robinson. I am from Prince Edward Island. I am a producer on Prince Edward Island and the president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture. The CFA is Canada's largest general farm organization. We represent over 190,000 farmers and farm families across this country.

Finance committee  In regard to grassroots consultation, we represent farmers. I probably shouldn't speak for industries outside of farming. I'm not familiar with them the way I am with agriculture. I think it's incredibly important for government to speak with farmers and understand, because it is such a capital-intensive investment.

Finance committee  I will, Wayne.

Finance committee  I think you're absolutely correct, Mr. Maguire, that it's not black and white. It's still a bit grey. It certainly causes me concern. Julie was asked earlier if there would be confidence in telling someone to move ahead immediately with a transfer intergenerationally. I personally would be quite nervous of it.

Finance committee  With regard to the stresses that people feel on farms right now, there are so many and they're so varied. The very nature of agriculture in Canada is incredibly diverse, both in the size of farm operations and in the commodities they're producing. Generally speaking, what we want to see and what we advocate for a lot at CFA is improvement to the business risk management programs so that farmers have a financial backstop, so that they don't have this overwhelming stress that when something comes along that's well beyond their control they're going to lose everything.

Finance committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Ultimately there are no farmers I'm aware of who would sell their land if their farm were profitable. One of the best things we can do to prevent the loss and erosion of arable land in this country would be to ensure that farms are profitable and that they have a financial backstop.