First of all, we apologize for not being there, but due to the timeframe it was just impossible, so we thought we would do the next best thing.
Thank you for the invitation to present on Growing Forward 2.
I'll start by saying that my name is Allan Ling. I'm a mixed farmer from Wheatley River, Prince Edward Island, and the president of the Atlantic Grains Council.
The Atlantic Grains Council represents over 1,600 cereal and oilseed producers farming close to 200,000 acres through the entire region. The Atlantic Grains Council is a member of the Grain Growers of Canada, which has already made a presentation to your group, we understand, on November 24.
With me today is Michael Delaney, who is the general manager of the Prince Edward Island Grain Elevators Corporation, a leader in the marketing of cereals and oilseeds in P.E.I. especially. We give you regrets from Robert Godbout, a farmer and vice-president and business owner from Grand Falls, New Brunswick. Unfortunately, a work commitment got in his road.
I'm going to turn it over to Michael. He can lead some of the discussion. I'll come back in a few minutes.