Agriculture committee  Okay, that's good. I actually have to leave pretty quickly. They need the equipment for a class. I just wanted to mention with respect to forecasting that often forecasting is a collective opinion of farmers gazing at their crops. We actually need professional agrologists who k

Agriculture committee  If I were going to just add one, it would be that better forecasting is absolutely essential. Forecasts have been dismal the last two years. I think we have to do a lot better job at that. It's quite easy to commit just a few resources and do a very good job of it publicly.

Agriculture committee  When it comes to logistics, I think it's important to have a third party with which information can be safely shared. Whether that institution reports to government or reports to industry or producers is somehow, I think, a different issue. But it has to be a third party that bas

Agriculture committee  It's been a long time since there has been a costing review with the regulation within the revenue cap. Going forward to make sure the right elements are costed correctly, it would make sense to actually do a costing review to make sure the incentives are there, the railways get

Agriculture committee  Yes, in terms of a grain transport authority, it's not that we need to have government saying how to move grain all of the time. But I do think when we get a backlog like the current situation, there are no longer any contractual instruments that work very well. We've got a bunch

Agriculture committee  In the short run there isn't a lot that can be done other than making sure there is enough, if you like, rolling stock, etc., that the railways are making an effort with the resources they have. Other than increasing their incentives, there's not a lot we can do. Basis levels c

Agriculture committee  Yes. Okay, just one last one. Without long-run planning and action, basis levels will remain high, stifling farm income and national economic growth. Thank you.

Agriculture committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, for the opportunity to speak to this group. As for my background, I'm a professor of agricultural economics from the University of Saskatchewan; I've been there since 1990. Prior to that, I was a crop market analyst with the Saskatchewan Depart