Agriculture committee  I might add that what we saw when the federal plants had a backlog of cattle in the processing sector was our provincial plants really stepped up to the plate to try to alleviate some of that backlog. Our numbers for 2020 showed that they had increased their capacity by close to 25%.

Agriculture committee  During the last CAP program that was announced before the new year, there was a shared program between yourselves in the federal government and our provincial government. I believe it was a $4-million program. We saw that money snapped up very quickly by all of the processors in Ontario.

Agriculture committee  Thank you. Good afternoon. My name is Rob Lipsett and I'm a beef producer from Grey County, Ontario. I'm the president of the Beef Farmers of Ontario. Joining me today is BFO's executive director, Richard Horne. Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today. While the COVID-19 pandemic has heightened the focus on processing capacity, the beef sector across eastern Canada has had to contend with capacity challenges for some time due to a variety of factors that have led to periodic supply bottlenecks, significant negative pressure on farm gate prices and lost market opportunities.

Agriculture committee  I'll turn that over to Mr. Horne. He can make a comment on the administrative side of things. I'm not familiar enough with overhead expenses at the administrative level to comment on that properly.

Agriculture committee  Thanks for the question, Alex. I guess the best description I could give is that at the 70% trigger level, using the Olympic averages for our income reference, over the past four years our beef income levels have been so low that our high and low are almost identically the same thing.

Agriculture committee  I completed my presentation.

Agriculture committee  Good afternoon. My name is Rob Lipsett. I'm a beef producer from Grey County, Ontario, and the president of Beef Farmers of Ontario. I also sit as the co-chair of the Canadian Cattlemen's Association's domestic agriculture policy and regulations committee. Joining me today is BFO's executive director Richard Horne.

Industry committee  Sure. Thanks, Lianne. It's kind of a two-pronged approach for us in Ontario. Our ask for the Ontario risk management program top-up is really vital. It's a program that has been proven to work. It goes hand in hand with CCA's national ask to cost-share the premium with the WLPIP as well.

Industry committee  Yes, sure. Part of the problem with the wage subsidy program is that.... I'll use cow-calf operators as an example. Their revenue comes in two to three times a year, based on their sales. Right now we're not showing a revenue reduction because of the market uncertainty. We can't move those animals at the present time, so we don't have a significant enough price decline currently to qualify for that program.

Industry committee  Good evening. My name is Rob Lipsett. I am a beef producer from Grey County, Ontario, and the president of the Beef Farmers of Ontario. Joining me tonight is BFO's executive director, Richard Horne. Like our colleagues from the Canadian Cattlemen's Association, we strongly believe that if the current challenges are strategically addressed, the beef sector will emerge as a key recovery sector post-COVID-19.