Well, I'll start with what we heard, which was 100% in alignment with what you've just described. But even broader, I would say that innovation is something almost everybody pointed to as the foundation for competitiveness. We don't want to compete solely on cost, in a rush to the bottom. We want to compete on the best agronomic practices, the best technologies, the newest products that are available.
A number of people, particularly in the higher value-added parts of the sector--the bio-industries, the bio-economy--and in areas of functional foods and nutraceuticals where there's a tremendous research risk and tremendous investment required, where the payoffs are huge but the risks are as well, pointed to this as a problem quite frequently.
They pointed to issues well beyond just financing, but I would accept your statement that there's a significant lack of venture capital writ large in the country. As I said in my opening remarks, I think the agriculture sector unfortunately still suffers, I think, from a lack of appreciation amongst the population and the investment community about how dynamic it is, how technology-intensive it is, and what kinds of returns you can get through investing in near-to-market or commercialization of new products and technologies.
The feedback we got was that we needed to look at not just capital and the tax treatment you're referring to, which would put us on the same footing as, say, the mining industry, but also to look at the investment climate. Are we sufficiently robust in terms of our IP protection, our regulatory environment, to approve these new products quickly, attract money into the sector, and to make sure the return is predictable and quick?
There's a whole range of issues associated with solving what this committee has heard is the “valley of death”. You get to that point where the technology is proven, it's a potentially marketable piece of technology or a new process, but getting it from the lab bench to the market is where you fail very often.
I would have to say that we haven't made any policy choices like a tax approach, but certainly what we've heard is very consistent with what you've described, and the sector is looking for solutions.