Agriculture committee  I won't comment on the technical part, the actual numbers. I'll let Brady do that. When you consider the backlog and the losses being taken at feedlots right now, “a drop in the bucket” probably isn't the most professional term to use. As was mentioned earlier today, AgriRecovery has the word “recovery” in it, and it is going to help.

Agriculture committee  Brady, I'll let you take that one.

Agriculture committee  It's definitely going to be of assistance, I would say. Brady can elaborate a little bit. The only AgriRecovery that we've seen has been on the set-aside programs. We're working very closely with government to try to stretch those as far as they will go. In my opinion, they will be a drop in the bucket of a pretty big problem for the backed-up cattle we have.

Agriculture committee  Yes, that's actually specifically where it will help certain farm structures. To do the accounting and the application to AgriStability, the cost is onerous, plus the job itself is onerous. A lot of the smaller farms, specifically cow-calf operations, don't apply for it because they don't see the benefit down the road.

Agriculture committee  I'm a firm believer in the WLPIP myself. I use it every year, whether it's a good year or a bad year. Right now the premiums are indeed high, and that's based on the volatility. I don't know how you can get around that. Perhaps you could mitigate that volatility somehow with a little more backstop from the government, to take some of the risk out of it for the underwriters.

Agriculture committee  Thank you for the invitation to speak with you today. My name is Charlie Christie. My family and I run a cow-calf and feedlot operation near Trochu, Alberta. I am currently a director with CCA and co-chair of the domestic ag committee. I'm here with Brady Stadnicki, who is CCA staff based out of Calgary.

Agriculture committee  Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize—

Agriculture committee  Another program we would like to focus on is the western livestock price insurance program, WLPIP. This a forward market-based insurance-style program that allows producers to manage risk within their own operation. CCA's position is that the tool should become a permanent risk management tool, not dependent on renewal under each agricultural policy framework.