Good morning, folks. We'd like to thank you for having us here.
My name is Matt Ramsay, and Trent Cousins is beside me. We're going to do this in a two-part piece.
We'd like to share our insights as they concern what we consider a necessary paradigm shift in 21st century agriculture. We're each going to outline some key points as they relate to the briefing we provided you.
I'm going to begin by outlining some socio-economic concerns, which I feel should be addressed on a higher level of agricultural reform. Trent is going to share some insights on key areas of opportunity where we think we could start making things happen.
I'll start by saying that agriculture is in need of a warm welcome, as it were, to the 21st century. Efficiency and sustainability are no longer nice things to have, but rather the demands of an increasingly globalized economy. I think we all know this. It's just the way things are going.
We can no longer allow these long-held traditions to hold us to anything. We must reconcile ecological and economic paradigms and we must fuse them into hybrid frameworks that capture the total value of agriculture. By that, I don't mean just the profitability element of it. Long-term stability cannot be restricted to profitability, yet we cannot ignore these implicit rules of a global marketplace. We need to somehow reconcile the two, which is what I think will create a holistic, long-term stability.
We need to take a fresh look at the interconnectiveness, prolific in every economy, and truly appreciate the rudimentary significance of our primary sectors. These are the sectors this country was built on. When we take a look at how it is interconnected with every other piece of our economy, there are certain warning signs popping up here and there. While we were not built on the seas of global economics, we will perish on them if we fail to stabilize our constituent industries.
What I see right now is a clear and present rift between a generation looking back and one looking for a future. The old farmer is a dying breed, yet so is the young one. With them both will go the opportunity to stabilize and to feed a nation, and we must not let this happen.
New thinking must be allowed to permeate agricultural economies. Long-term stability begins and ends in the hearts and minds of those who currently find little refuge in agriculture. We must work diligently, collaboratively, and in ways never thought of. We must give the farmer the grounds to once again roam freely as a food producer.
We expect too much insofar as we eat without thought. We need to allow the traditional farmer to reconcile his ways with these young farmers we seek to offer these opportunities to.
I'm now going to pass it to Trent. He's going to speak to some more specific key areas on where we might start looking for these opportunities for integration.