Thank you, Mr. Chair.
It's great to be back at this committee. I'm joined today, as you said, by the deputy minister, Andrea Lyon; Greg Meredith, who is the assistant deputy minister of strategic policy; and Pierre Corriveau, assistant deputy minister of corporate management. This committee continues to do very important work for producers and processors in the broader Canadian agricultural industry as a whole.
We're meeting at a time of tremendous opportunity for our sector. It's estimated that farmers will need to produce 60% more food by 2050 to feed an anticipated population of some nine billion. In China alone the middle class is projected to grow by as many as 35 million people every year over the next decade. That's more than the population of our entire country on an annual growth basis.
Canadian farmers and food processors are well placed to address this growing demand, and the world is knocking at our door. Last year our agricultural exports topped $50 billion for the first time in our nation's history and they're 14% ahead of that pace this year. A recent study by Farm Credit Canada shows that Canada is now the world's leading agricultural trader per capita. That's a great track record, but we know our competitors are not standing still on global market access. That's why we're working hard across our great industry, across government, across the world, to keep Canada out in front on world markets. The supplementary estimates you have before you reflect that, with $4.9 million to CFIA to undertake activities to improve market access for Canadian agricultural products, and another $2 million to support the establishment of a Canadian beef centre of excellence to showcase our Canadian beef advantage to the world.
We're continuing our aggressive trade agenda. We were in China three weeks ago with the Prime Minister—my third trip this year—and a number of industry leaders. We were able to secure some key market gains, including an agreement finalizing access for Canadian cherries, valued at up to some $20 million a year; progress on access for Canadian blueberries, valued at $65 million a year; and a new contract for Canadian canola oil, valued at $1 billion. This builds on market gains achieved during our China mission in June, valued at some $400 million by industry members. In fact, our agriculture and food trade with China has increased fivefold since our government took office in 2006. China is one of a number of priority markets identified in collaboration with industry, through the Market Access Secretariat, which takes a holistic approach, bringing all government industry to the table to focus and grow our trade.
Hand in hand with our ground offensive, we have our government's aggressive trade agreement agenda. Since 2006, the government has successfully concluded negotiations on free trade agreements covering no fewer than 38 different countries. As a result, Canada now has trade agreements with more than half of the entire global marketplace, a total of 43 countries, while continuing to protect the pillars of our supply management system. The historic trade agreement with Europe will open the doors to the world's single largest market for food and food stuffs, boosting our agriculture and food trade by an estimated $1.5 billion per year. The agreement we signed with Korea, which is now reaching final agreement in the Senate, levels the playing field with our competitors and gives Canada its first ever foothold in the Asia-Pacific region.
Of course, if we are able to serve these markets, we need a predictable and reliable supply chain here at home. That's why, when the grain backed up last winter, we moved quickly with an order in council mandating minimum volumes for CN and CP, and with Bill C-30 to strengthen accountability information sharing throughout the system. I want to thank this committee for its hard work in moving Bill C-30 forward while ensuring we had a fulsome debate.
The Fair Rail for Grain Farmers Act puts into law clear and achievable solutions for the short term to ensure Canadian shippers have access to a world-class logistics system that gets Canada's agricultural products and other commodities to market in a predictable and timely way. Grain is moving. Exports are up some 25% over last year, and 32% over the five-year average. Deliveries using producer cars are also at all-time highs. As for the minimum volume requirements, we've said all along that the order in council will be there as long as it is needed. Our government will be making an announcement on any future requirements very soon, so stay tuned.
At the same time, we continue to work to ensure our logistics system is strong for the long haul. We accelerated the review of the Canada Transportation Act by a full year to focus on long-term structural issues affecting all rail transport including grains. The CTA review panel has been very busy through the fall meeting with a number of stakeholders to get a clear picture of the challenges facing the western Canadian grain handling and transportation system. A discussion paper was released in September, and we are encouraging industry to vet their thoughts by the end of this calendar year. We'll continue to work with Transport Canada and the whole value chain to manage future challenges, and create a rail supply chain that has greater capacity, predictability and accountability for the industry, and most importantly, for our global customers.
Transportation is one piece of this government's plan to modernize Canada's grain sector to stay in line with emerging 21st century realities. We're now working to build on reforms passed in 2012 to the Canada Grain Act as part of our commitment to marketing freedom.
We're also encouraged to see that the Canadian Wheat Board remains a viable and voluntary option for farmers who choose to use it as their marketing tool. The CWB is leading the process toward its own commercialization. The act requires the CWB to submit a plan to government, and we're certainly encouraged to see that they have actively moved forward to become a private, independent organization that can meet farmers' needs in this competitive sector. A viable and voluntary CWB, along with our aggressive trade and innovation agenda, will mean a stronger farm gate and a rich harvest for Canada's economy.
The other key to competitiveness is, of course, innovation. Farmers must have the latest tools to compete in the global marketplace. That's why we're updating plant breeders' rights under Bill C-18. The agricultural growth act will strengthen intellectual property rights for plant breeders so Canada can catch up with the rest of our competitors. This is supported by every relevant farm group across Canada. Aligning our regulations will not only level the playing field for our producers but it's also expected to encourage foreign breeders to release their varieties in Canada. This will give our farmers access to new varieties that their competitors are already using.
Entrenched in Bill C-18 is, of course, the right for farmers to save, clean, and use seed for their own operations.
Finally, Mr. Chair, innovation takes investment, and that is reflected in these investments, with the allocation of a further $41.7 million for Growing Forward 2 cost-shared initiatives including innovation. Growing Forward 2, which is now hitting its mid-season stride, is backed by a 41% increase in funding on science and innovation throughout the agricultural sector. That's helped us almost double our support of the industry-led research clusters to some $125 million and to add four new clusters. At the same time, our business risk programs are there to backstop producers such as Manitoba livestock producers suffering feed shortages following another extremely wet growing season.
As always, expenditures are driven by demand. Business risk management programs can fluctuate depending on the needs of Canadian producers. This fluctuation will impact our spending numbers, which will be lower if demand for the BRM programs is lower.
To close, Mr. Chair, as does this committee, I remain very optimistic about the future for agriculture. Canadian farm cash receipts totalled almost $42 billion for the first three quarters of this year, which is an increase of almost 3% over the same period last year.
The long-term fundamentals of the industry are good with growing populations and incomes and great products to sell.
I look forward to working with you as we drive new opportunities for our industry and new growth for our economy.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I look forward to any questions or comments.
