Thank you. Merci.
The first part of the question asked how we could get the urban population engaged or show them the value of agriculture and the value of farming. My initial response is that I don't have the answer for that.
I think a lot of the engagement comes when you start coordinating your land use policies, your land access policies, your right to farm, and that sort of thing first, because at the end of the day it all comes back down to land. I mean, that's our capital investment. That's a societal need as well, the land and the access to land, so we can start there.
From both a federal and a provincial perspective, I think it's important for us not to sell farming as the “poor me” farmer, but as the start or as the means to an end--in other words, the innovation, the research, the technology, the processing, the science, and all the exciting aspects that go into taking something from the field through to the plate. Perhaps a better understanding of that whole transformation of field to plate would help.
As an example, we have done that with one little magazine in Alberta, called Food for Thought. It is distributed to grocery stores, doctors' offices, and so on. It covers all of agriculture, and you can pick it up and see as a consumer how agriculture is so important to you. I'll most certainly get copies of that to you, Mr. Chairman, just as an idea. It was born out of your question about how to transfer that information.
I think selling young people and getting investment, of course, are important. We had mentioned the lack of capital in farming earlier. We do have to recognize that a certain amount of economics of scale is required.
We have to recognize that the demographics are shifting now. At least 28% of farms are owned and operated by women. They will come in with a different view of agricultural practices and humane practices than existed previously.
We have to make it a little bit exciting in going back to the innovation and science aspect of farming, because there's a lot of it. Even in your new tractor there's a lot of engineering and things that went on there. We can appeal to them in some of those ways.
To reply to your question about Beeflink, it is published biweekly. It is an assessment of the beef industry, right from the very primary producer through to global sales. It goes across Canada and the U.S. by e-mail.
Thank you.