Until there's acceptance of new technologies like GMOs, I don't think the multinationals will have any advantage in breeding in Canada. I'm not sure how they think they're going to make money, unless there are large check-offs that can go directly to them or they somehow bring in new traits that are worth so much more money that I, as a farmer, will have to buy them because I won't be competitive without them. I don't know if they have that kind of technology, particularly in a non-GMO fashion.
Even when they do have GMOs, I think there will still be a market for non-GMO products. I know a corn breeder in the United States. His business did very well after the GMO corns came to the States. He's not taking over the majority of the market, but he has a successful business and it does provide an alternative.
In terms of help, I listed a few things. If we get preferential treatment, it would be nice to be able to obtain an ongoing breeding program that's had those years of investment with no or low money down. We'd pay it back as we go and do things like that so that we wouldn't have a lot of the upfront costs that we'd have a hard time dealing with right now.
The other is check-offs. I know there are a number of studies being done. I think the Western Grains Research Foundation has sponsored a study. I think the Grain Growers of Canada is also involved in that same study. It's being done by Stuart Garven and Associates, with Dorothy Murrell and Carman Read looking all around the world at what models are available and what might work best. I hope I'm a little ahead of their curve, in that perhaps they'll find we have at least part of that answer already.