The answer to the first question--and this is a very common question, and I think it's important that we answer it--is you're right, we've asked for a loan program as opposed to some kind of an ad hoc payment, and essentially that's because of the concerns about CVD. I'm a producer and I'm suffering the same stress everybody else is, and I would very much prefer if you'd write me a cheque and I didn't have to pay it back. But having said that, because of the CVD issues, we, as the Pork Council--and we work very hard at this--really see that as the only viable way to go ahead and provide the liquidity to producers that they need.
You're very correct in saying that. Producers often say, well, gee, don't give me a loan, that just gives me a liability on my balance sheet, but don't forget, you're going to give me that liability on my balance, but you're also going to give me the cash, so I'm going to take that cash and I'm going to pay my feed bill. Many producers right now are at the point where we think two weeks from now.... There are producers who don't have money to buy feed. I got a call from a guy in my province who said there's a producer who can't buy feed. We're thinking maybe some of us will chip in and get the guy a little bit of feed, but obviously we can't support him.
That's the issue. We need to get cash in that guy's hand so he can buy feed and he can meet his payroll in order to keep going. Having said that, six months from now, if the prices turn around and he obviously has to pay that back...if you didn't give him that cash, he still would have that feed bill and six months from now he still has to pay it back. So from a balance sheet point of view, you're not making him better off, or you're not making him worse, you're just making him more liquid. You're giving him more liquidity and the ability to buy feed to feed his pigs and carry on with business.