Agriculture Committee on April 30th, 2014

[Dr. Rex Newkirk]

We're still refining that process, I have to admit. We certainly take it back to the Western Grain Elevator Association, and the Canadian Grain and Oilseed Exporters Association. After our new crop missions where we went out and met with all the customers this fall, we held a seminar where all the various different players, plant breeders and grain companies, came in. At the PGDC meetings in February we brought forward information of what we have learned from our customers in the last year to the various plant breeders.

We're now involved in a fair bit of the plant breeding testing as well, so the samples that are coming out of early generation or the PGDC are coming to us. We will advise the various plant breeders, “These are the things we like about these ones, and these ones here are going to be more challenging for you.” We try to bring that information back.

We're trying to simplify that process, because there are a lot of players, and we want to make sure we get that information out to them. As well, we would like to see more information coming back from the companies so they can provide advice to the system. We're trying to facilitate that discussion. That's actually one of the major topics for tomorrow with the industry association: what the best way is to communicate these results.

[Randy Hoback, Conservative, Prince Albert, SK]

One of the things I've always found very interesting with CIGI is you've done a great job in promoting the products that we grow here in Canada.

Is anybody else following up with the customer after we've made that sale of wheat or canola? CIGI will come in at the back end and do that quality assurance, provide that service. I don't think anybody else in the world is doing that. Is that fair to say?

[Dr. Rex Newkirk]

Not exactly. The Americans have a lot of money in promotion. I'd have to say the Americans have spent an awful lot of time and money. They have a lot of staff around the world working with customers. For example, in my recent seminars in the Middle East, it's not uncommon for them to tell me they've just had the U.S. soybean council or the U.S. wheat associates or whatever come in.

[Randy Hoback, Conservative, Prince Albert, SK]

You've been doing that.

[Dr. Rex Newkirk]

They're doing it in a different manner, I'd have to say. Sorry, I cut you off.

[Randy Hoback, Conservative, Prince Albert, SK]

I was saying that they are starting to copy what we have been doing for the last 10 to 15 years.

[Dr. Rex Newkirk]

Oh, yes, absolutely. The U.S. grains program was built after CIGI, and they don't hide that at all. We do it probably the best with the least amount of resources. I think we're the most efficient in Canada. We've made very good use of resources. The government has invested in us, and we've used that well. The industry has invested in us, and we carry that on.

In the U.S. they do much more promotion. They spend a lot of time doing the big events and promotion. We tend to spend more time on the technical things and talking about the merits, so it's just a different approach, but don't underestimate our competition on that side.

[Randy Hoback, Conservative, Prince Albert, SK]

Of course in Canada we have canola growers who have different associations that are doing that for themselves, working hand in hand with you, but maybe on a different aspect, I would think.

[The Chair, Conservative, Bev Shipley]

Thank you, Mr. Hoback. Your time went well.

I'll move to Madame Raynault. I think you're sharing time with Mr. Garrison.

[Francine Raynault, NDP, Joliette, QC]

Mr. Chair, I'm going to share my time with my colleague.

Last summer, I visited agricultural enterprises in my riding. I visited one farm raising rotisserie chickens. There were thousands of chicks in a large building where the heat, humidity and water were controlled electronically. The farmers, a father-daughter business, were taking good care of their animals.

We often hear in committee meetings that the agriculture and agri-food industry is quite regulated. Do you think federal regulation helps you in your activities or does it have a negative impact? Could you give us an example of a regulation that affects you negatively or that you benefit from?

[Dr. Bruce Roberts]

Certainly with poultry the regulatory framework isn't as extensive as with some of the crops. We have regulations around the types of antibiotics we can use, but that's becoming less of an issue, because we're moving more and more toward using fewer and not using them just for preventive purposes. I think that's good.

The codes of practice led by the federal government that have been developed are very good, but sometimes they're a very hard sell to farmers. It's not so much with Ag Canada as it is with some of the regulatory organizations such as CFIA. They will come in with a decision that may require a significant investment, without stopping to think about the length of time, about the impact. That's rare. There's a lot of good communication between industry and all levels of government. I think probably the more negative impacts come more from the provincial government decisions than from federal decisions. The federal is more at the food end, where the provincial ones have more of the authority around the actual production systems. That's what impacts the farmers.

The environmental changes have been extreme. It's funny, because I did a lot of work in the environment years ago, in environmental economics, and the farmers complained constantly. Now they don't even remember complaining about it. That's life, isn't it? Things change.

[Randall Garrison, NDP, Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca, BC]

Thank you very much.

If we're into confessions, here on our side, it's the chicken and turkey farmers. I grew up on a chicken and turkey farm, and so I'm going to continue asking Mr. Roberts some questions. I say that semi-seriously because the question I'm going to ask now reflects the riding that I live in. We get a lot of questions about animal welfare when it comes to the poultry industry, and you mentioned that you were doing research on animal welfare and behaviour. Could you say a little more about that for the committee?

[Dr. Bruce Roberts]

Every project we have in the cluster that has some sort of production aspect to it has an animal welfare aspect to it. The vice-chair of our board calls animal welfare the new farm management, and it really is. It's how you raise those animals in such a way that you have reduced their stress to the minimum.

I actually did a calculation on it, and the three largest projects in our cluster are directly animal welfare. Now, there are other aspects we bring in with it. We have an environmental one, and we tied in an animal welfare aspect to it as well.

There's a lot of funding dealing with animal welfare. One of the major issues that we're looking at now, which we thought had to a certain extent been dealt with, is euthanasia. That's one that became very important after some television work that was done. We're looking at a project right now reviewing euthanasia of turkeys and developing training programs. We have most of the information. It's like environmental research. We don't need to study how to spread manure anymore; we just have to teach people how to do it right. It's the same thing with some of the animal welfare things.

Another aspect that we have to do is dedicated research on housing. We don't know enough about transportation and how it affects birds. That's another one. Transportation is a major issue.

[The Chair, Conservative, Bev Shipley]

Thank you very much.

I'm going to take the chair's privilege and ask a question.

We've had a number of comments over the last two or three meetings regarding scientists, the terms and the length of time in acquiring scientists and researchers. Even in the group prior to this, it was a number that I was surprised to hear. There's actually around 600 scientists that would need to be replaced every year across Canada.

One of the things that came up is that in terms of the education system, the comment was, “We can't find them.” If you can't find them, it means they aren't here. If they aren't here, then it would appear that we need to try, through our industry, through promotion, through government programming, as individuals and members within our communities, to attract individuals, maybe through the education system, to get into a very good profession with a long-term career. How do we do that? Have you done that through your organizations?

I'll go to you first, Mr. Newkirk.

[Dr. Rex Newkirk]

That's a good question. I'm trained as a scientist. I have a Ph.D., so I get to do some science, but I do a lot more business.

One of the challenges we have, and it's a good challenge, is that because the economy is doing so well in Canada and there are many jobs, when you finish your bachelor's degree, you can get a pretty good job that pays well. To attract Canadian students to graduate school is challenging. That's a sort of good news, bad news story. I like the good news story, that there are opportunities for our students, especially in agriculture. I think our biggest challenge is how we get people to go up the scale.

Another part of it which I think is missing—and this is my own opinion; I'm an adjunct professor at one university and am becoming one at another—is that we always separate science and business. For an economy that is doing well, and for people such as myself who are interested in how science affects business, I would like to see more business incorporated into our science training.

You know, I started a company. I had many years of training and no business training. I think we could introduce more business into it. In my case, I was fortunate that I was able to do my Ph.D. while I worked full time. I was able to get training, business training, and some experience, while I did my Ph.D.

It is a challenge for us. We've had to hire from outside of the country. Notwithstanding discussions about foreign temporary workers in the news right now, it was a very slow and painful process to bring in the expertise. We've had to prove over and over again that we couldn't find them in Canada. That's fair, but we have found that we've had to go outside of Canada to get the expertise we need. Our young people have many opportunities, and it's a challenge to attract them.

[The Chair, Conservative, Bev Shipley]

Mr. Roberts, we have just a very short time. If you have a quick comment, I'd appreciate it.

[Dr. Bruce Roberts]

I think one of the things we need to recognize is that a lot of our Canadian scientists are studying outside of Canada too, and it's always been that way. I did my Ph.D. in Illinois and came back to Canada. Those are some of the things we need to keep in mind as well.

We have a lot of students doing science study at universities. The issue becomes, when they're finished, whether we can find a reason for them to stay here.

[The Chair, Conservative, Bev Shipley]

Okay.

Mr. Newkirk and Mr. Roberts, that you very much for taking time to be a part of this study.

Committee members, thank you for being here and asking good questions.

The meeting is adjourned.