I will start.
First of all, thank you for the invitation to present to you this morning.
Good morning, Brian. It's good to see you again.
First of all, my name is Allan Ling. With me, from the PEI Grain Elevators Corporation, are Mike Delaney and Neil Campbell.
The Atlantic Grains Council...[Technical difficulty--Editor]
We were incorporated in 1984. The region produces approximately 200,000 acres of cereal and oilseed crops, with a farm value exceeding $100 million. The largest market segment is the livestock industry. The main crops grown are barley, wheat—both feed wheat and milling wheat—oats, corn, and soybeans. Milling wheat is also produced, along with lesser qualities of crops such as canola and rye. More recently, special crops such as flax and industrial oil have also appeared.
Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick are in deficit production; P.E.I. is in surplus production. The balance of energy and protein crops is imported into this region. The regional feed market is estimated at approximately 400,000 metric tonnes. While livestock production has been in decline over the past number of years, the supply-managed commodities remain important customers.
The regional milling wheat market is approximately 100,000 tonnes, with about 8% of that supply coming from P.E.I. Regional grain quality is overseen by the New Brunswick Grain Commission. The region has one large flour mill, which is Dover Mills in Halifax, and several commercial feeding manufacturing facilities. Recently several smaller oil extraction and meal-producing facilities have been established in the region.
At this time, I'd like to turn it over to Neil.