Agriculture Committee on Nov. 20th, 2012

[The Chair, Conservative, Merv Tweed]

Thank you.

[Rick Istead]

I'd also like to—

[The Chair, Conservative, Merv Tweed]

I have to stop you there, I'm sorry.

Mr. Zimmer.

[Bob Zimmer, Conservative, Prince George—Peace River, BC]

Thanks for explaining that, too, about the 30% yield increase with GMOs. The fact is it does allow us to produce more. Thanks for clarifying that.

I'm from the Peace region in northern B.C. We actually have grains and oilseeds in British Columbia. A lot of people don't know that, but you, I'm sure, do. I wanted to ask you something in another vein. We've already tried to improve the system with changes to the Wheat Board, and we've been hearing great things about that. I've been hearing great things in our riding as well, but we still want to make it a better system. What are some recommendations from your groups regarding the reduction of red tape for the farmers, and I guess even at the corporate level?

[Rick Istead]

In terms of reduction in red tape, I think any time we can let the market sort things out, versus regulating it, is always a good thing. I would like to see an environment that actually encourages investment in innovation here, particularly with our crops and in particular with wheat.

If we do a quick comparison between Australia and Canada, Australia on average invests about $80 million per year in wheat research and we're currently investing less than $20 million. I think there are tremendous opportunities there. I think one way would be in providing an environment that encourages investment from what I call the P3, private, public, and producers. Let's all share on this.

[Bob Zimmer, Conservative, Prince George—Peace River, BC]

Brian, please.

[Brian Otto]

I echo what Rick has said. Allow the commercial marketplace to operate as it should, with as little government regulation as possible. It's very important that this be allowed to occur.

On the barley side, in our study that the Western Barley Growers just completed, we identified some areas that we thought could be encouraged. One is that we have to encourage an accurate market and price discovery mechanism. We have to track the movement of barley from farmer to whatever end user who purchases a product, so we have some idea about the supply: what is grown, what's being used, what's left in the system. It's really hard for price discovery if you can't track the movement of the barley as it moves through the value chain. That's very important.

Right now one of the difficulties we see in the barley industry is the lack of a good price discovery mechanism and a risk management mechanism that the industry can use. Certainly the Barley Council of Canada will be working with the industry to try to work that out.

I think the encouragement of private-public research is very important. There are private companies that are willing to invest in research on wheat and barley in western Canada. If we can find a way to encourage a partnership between the publicly funded and the privately funded research it will work best for Canadian agriculture. Certainly I would encourage the government to encourage that partnership.

[Bob Zimmer, Conservative, Prince George—Peace River, BC]

Thanks.

[Brian Otto]

Certainly as....

I'm sorry. Go ahead.

[Bob Zimmer, Conservative, Prince George—Peace River, BC]

Thanks for your response. My time is limited as well.

Some members already asked you some questions about the future for domestic and export markets for your crops. I would like to ask another question. What are your thoughts about the potential of the biofuels industry, and how are you viewing that?

We'll start with Rick and then go to Brian.

[Rick Istead]

I think we're not yet seeing the potential for the biofuels industry. When I look at wheat, I think we have to look at it in terms of what we can get from that crop. Of course, the obvious ones are things like milling wheat for breads, cookies, cakes, and pastas.

We need to look at how we can develop the markets to increase the accessibility for our commodity and the end use functionalities. Things like biofuels are another opportunity where a certain percentage of perhaps our lower quality wheats, which we don't have a market for, could automatically be allocated.

[The Chair, Conservative, Merv Tweed]

Thank you.

Mr. Atamanenko.

[Alex Atamanenko, NDP, British Columbia Southern Interior, BC]

I have a couple of comments. You mentioned the experiment in Australia. It's my understanding that it's in a very experimental stage, this 30% increase. They've got to work on that. According to the research I've done, there have been no major increases in yield through GM; it's all been through good conventional breeding.

The other fact is that if we look, for example, at GM corn, I just read there's a possibility they want to introduce it into Mexico, which with the cross-pollination would basically devastate the domestic industry. We have to be careful before we send genetically modified crops to other countries. Feeding the world, according to some scientists and others, is not about our sending a lot more crops; it's about helping them to develop their own crops.

I just wanted to put that on the record before I move on to my colleague, Madame Raynault.

[Francine Raynault, NDP, Joliette, QC]

Thank you.

Earlier, my colleague said that Japan did not want any products containing GMOs. So how will you convince them to buy our wheat? That question is for you, Mr. Istead.

[Rick Istead]

As I mentioned earlier, we have to be able to demonstrate to the customer, the consumer, the benefits or value that the GM technology brings to them and to the market. Also, I think we need to implement an education program that not only demonstrates the value, but really deals with the risk and benefit of GM wheat crops.

We have had challenges with trade with Japan in the past, as we have had with numerous countries because of the BSE crisis and everything. I think moving forward takes dialogue, conversation, giving our customers confidence that what we are delivering is a value product that meets their specifications and, by the way, is safe to use.

Did I answer your question?

[Francine Raynault, NDP, Joliette, QC]

For the benefit of those of us around the table and those watching today's meeting, could you, once again, explain the advantages of GMO products? You are aware of the aversion many people have to GMOs. What are the benefits?

[Rick Istead]

Most of the advantages for GM products have been designed to help improve productivity at the farm level, so a lot of the technology to date that has been brought forward, let's call it the biotechnology tools, has been to improve things like weed control, disease control, insect control, but we are now seeing advances being made through biotechnology in improved water use efficiency. This means, perhaps, crops can grow better under drought-type conditions. That would have an incredible place for growing crops in sub-Saharan Africa, for example. We are seeing biotechnology looking at improving nitrogen or fertilizer use efficiencies. In other words, the plant takes up less fertilizer from the soil, yet produces more grain, more crop, that sort of thing.

I believe we are going to see some biotechnologies that will have some health benefits attached to them. It's simply a matter of time. Biotechnology is advancing in the pharmaceutical area and I see opportunities for it in crop and animal production as well.

Unfortunately, there's a significant portion of the population who are not in favour of GMOs and biotechnology. I lived in Europe when that issue was really a problem there. I think we're beginning to see signs where Europeans are starting to have a bit more tolerance for it. We're not out of the woods yet, but I think eventually people will start to see the value of it. What we need to convince them of is that long term there is no risk associated with the technology.

[The Chair, Conservative, Merv Tweed]

Thank you.

With that, I'll thank our guests for being here today. We appreciate your time.

[Rick Istead]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Merv Tweed]

I'm sure you'll see some of your input in our final reports. Thank you.

[Bob Zimmer, Conservative, Prince George—Peace River, BC]

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Conservative, Merv Tweed]

To the committee, for your information, we'll continue with this study on Thursday, and next week on Tuesday. We will have the minister here at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, November 29, not 8:45 a.m. If you have any other suggested witnesses on this particular topic, forward them to the clerk. We do have a couple of declines so we could add a couple of names.

The meeting is adjourned.