Thank you very much.
Good afternoon, honourable MPs and observers. My name is Stefanie Nagelschmitz and I am here representing the Canadian Agri-Marketing Association, also known as CAMA.
In my everyday life, I am the communications coordinator for Canada's Outdoor Farm Show, held annually in Woodstock, Ontario, and we're actually the nation's largest business to business trade show for farmers and agribusinesses. But today, as I mentioned, I'm here representing the Canadian Agri-Marketing Association.
To give you some context, the Canadian Agri-Marketing Association is the national professional organization for agricultural marketing and communications professionals from coast to coast. We have over 350 members in five provincial chapters, with the majority being from Ontario. Our members work in media, advertising agencies, and farm organizations, and as marketing staff within agribusinesses of all sizes, from John Deere to Husky Farm Equipment.
Our members include public relations specialists, editors, general managers, advertising directors, marketing coordinators, account managers, presidents, and event managers like me. Essentially, we represent the technology, services, and products to help farmers run their businesses and tackle new markets, which we hope Growing Forward 2 will also assist with.
When our members look at Canadian agriculture today, we see an industry we are proud of, excited about, and passionate to advance to the world stage. Our membership has no shortage of diversity, as I mentioned, in geography, in scale, or in sector. We are also at a distinct advantage in often looking at Canadian agriculture and agrifood from a big-picture perspective. From that perspective, we view the industry as one of strength, with a business sense and a readiness to take on opportunities to which we hope Growing Forward 2 will give us access, whether locally or on the world stage. Canadian agriculture and agrifood are, for the most part, in a very positive place, in a place of strength. In the Globe and Mail newspaper on July 19 last year, reporter Tavia Grant announced that:
Canada's manufacturing industry typically conjures images of machinery, steel, cars and technology.
These sectors are vital not just because their health is critical to the country's economy, but because they have come to define what Canada is, and what it brings to the world.
But the country's largest manufacturing sector is no longer one that produces auto parts or high-tech gadgets like BlackBerrys. It's food. The sector is the country's largest manufacturing industry by sales, the most recent statistics show. Sales set a record last year topping $80-billion.
That does not include agricultural machinery, which, as we are all aware, has rather high price tags.
Nationwide, Canadian farmers are producing billions of dollars' worth of high-quality, safe, and delicious food. That's in addition to the agricultural products that go towards textiles or commercial manufacturing for car parts made from soybeans, for example. There is a lot of buzz in the industry, and our members see it first-hand with our clients or at larger industry conferences and farm shows.
CAMA members have also seen Canadian agriculture and agrifood become more businesslike in recent years. The farmers our members deal with are continuing to manage their farms as businesses. We are being asked for the new technologies to make day-to-day chores more efficient, for services to help smooth the obstacles of succession planning, or for help in equipping farmers with skills training through programs like the advanced agriculture leadership program run by the Rural Ontario Institute. From our perspective, farmers are keen to seek and conquer new markets, run efficient operations, and be active members of the Canadian agricultural community and even more so the Canadian business community.
These farmers, along with the Canadian agribusinesses that work with them, are taking business to the world as well as across the country. Some CAMA members represent Canadian companies reaching out for international markets, as my colleagues have already mentioned this afternoon. Others work as the Canadian lead for multinational companies like Monsanto or John Deere, as I mentioned. They are interested in local markets, Canadian markets, and international ones.
Our members who sell their products internationally often comment that one of the top selling assets they have over competitors is the maple leaf itself. The Canadian brand is one that is linked with quality. The Canadian brand that “quality is in our nature” could not be more fitting, in our opinion. It's a brand that our members are proud to represent at home and abroad. As a professional organization representing many private agribusinesses, not surprisingly we see Canadian agriculture and agrifood as a vibrant and competitive industry. The Canadian brand is a strong one, and we see no reason to withhold that world-class potential.
Agritechnica, the world's largest agricultural machinery trade show, is held biannually in Hanover, Germany. It is just one example of how Canadian agriculture is full of vibrancy and potential. Agritechnica has over 2,700 exhibitors. Many hundreds of farmers from around the world come to this seven-day event to see the latest technologies and products available for their farms. In 2011 Canada attended with four Canada pavilions, and a total of 49 Canadian businesses attended as part of the larger delegation or on their own. The excitement was palpable and the excellence undeniable. There were also many Canadian farmers attending, from Kamloops to Barrie to Quebec.
It is clear that Canadians are world players, whether as farmers producing quality food products or agribusinesses selling agricultural machinery to farmers in other parts of the globe. Empowering our farmers with technology, skills, and services to succeed is paramount. It would be a shame not to take advantage of our amazing potential.
I think, at the end of the day, the Canadian Agri-Marketing Association and its members want Growing Forward 2 to facilitate the ability of our farmers and our agricultural agribusinesses to thrive. As we look into the future, we want this momentum to continue.
As I mentioned in my introduction, the Canadian Agri-Marketing Association represents the services, products, and tools farmers use to produce quality, safe, innovative, and delicious agriculture and agrifood products. It's the world-class potential we are known for and proud to produce, whether for customers within our borders or abroad. CAMA is a group of suppliers who are ready to provide the innovative tools farmers need and want, whether it is for the farmers, or perhaps for the processors and retailers, so that they can use it to do what they do best.
As Growing Forward 2 develops, at the end of the day our members want farmers to be empowered to be innovative and entrepreneurial. As new markets, domestic or international, open, our members are ready to help the Canadian agricultural industry with whatever they need. We want Growing Forward 2 to encourage innovation and the continued production of quality products.
On behalf of myself and the hundreds of Canadian agrimarketing professionals across the country, thank you for the invitation to speak with you this afternoon. Like you, we are passionate about the Canadian agriculture and agrifood industry and its continued success. We have strength, quality, and world-class potential. Let's take full advantage of our skills.
Thank you.