Evidence of meeting #53 for Agriculture and Agri-Food in the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was biotechnology.
A recording is available from Parliament.
12:55 p.m.
Bloc
The Vice-Chair Bloc André Bellavance
We are almost finished.
I will now go to Mr. Hoback for the last two minutes.
12:55 p.m.
Conservative
Randy Hoback Conservative Prince Albert, SK
Thank you, Chair.
I'm going to continue with that. I disagree with you. When we listened to the young farmers who were coming into the sector they were very excited about it, and profitability was their main concern. They weren't going to do things the way dad or grandpa did it. They made that point very clearly. They were embracing technologies that weren't available five or ten years ago that were making them more efficient and making them able to do more things and generate more capital and more cash.
There's always a barrier to entry in any industry; it doesn't matter if it's agriculture or if you buy a car business or anything else, you've got a barrier of capital costs when you go to do it. We've already found that when you start putting in subsidization programs you just increase the barrier, you don't necessarily help the person you're trying to help.
So I take exception to what you're saying there, and I disagree with you. It will be--
12:55 p.m.
Executive Director, FarmStart
I would agree with you that lots of young farmers are interested in getting into the sector and they don't want to do it the way their dads or their grandads did.
I'm trying to be specific about the technologies. A lot of technologies are helping farmers farm better and be more profitable and communicate with their consumers more and get a better price. Then there are technologies that put them into a system where they lose control. I think that's the difference. For the farmers who are analyzing what technologies they want to use, it's control and the ability to be a pricesetter and to control their input costs.
1 p.m.
Conservative
Randy Hoback Conservative Prince Albert, SK
They don't lose control because they have the choice of selection. If they are in a system that they don't like with Cargill, for example, they don't use Cargill seed, they use Dow seed or somebody else's seed. They have the ability to select among many competitors.
1 p.m.
Executive Director, FarmStart
They have the ability to choose between five companies.
1 p.m.
Executive Director, FarmStart
And those companies also control the purchasing of the products that come out the other side.
1 p.m.
Executive Director, FarmStart
I don't want to fight with you right now. I don't think we're fighting--
1 p.m.
Conservative
Randy Hoback Conservative Prince Albert, SK
You're making a comment that's not true. On specific agriproducts, yes, but I can buy seed from Cargill that I could sell to ADM. No problem, I could do it tomorrow. Farmers can make choices at the farm gate that will allow them to go into the system. The reason they tie themselves into an IP system is that it's making them money.
1 p.m.
Bloc
The Vice-Chair Bloc André Bellavance
Thank you very much, Mr. Hoback.
Ms. Young, I will give you the last word.
1 p.m.
Bloc
1 p.m.
Liberal
Wayne Easter Liberal Malpeque, PE
Yes.
I've sat in this room now for three or four meetings. I've sat here and I've counted that 94 of those pot lights are on. What's going on here? Do we really need all these lights on in here? This is crazy. In the committee rooms around this town, what are we doing?
1 p.m.
Bloc
The Vice-Chair Bloc André Bellavance
Okay. Order, please. The issue is a technical one that the committee will try to resolve with the help with the clerk.
I thank the witnesses and committee members. We will continue our work next Tuesday.
The meeting is adjourned.