Agriculture Committee on Nov. 21st, 2013

[Brian Otto]

Do you want to answer that?

[Lisa Skierka]

Yes. I really meant to jump in when Mr. Eyking was asking his question about research.

We've been really fortunate, through the Alberta Barley Commission and the Barley Council of Canada, to be allocated $8 million in agri-innovation funding through the Growing Forward 2 program, in that we match $2 million in farmer and research organization funding for $10 million in barley research, specifically for innovative programs. We continue to support our traditional programs through traditional means. This really is the key point of this money, to look at barley in different ways and figure out where we can go in the future. So we're excited about that.

We're also looking forward to hearing what happens with our agri-marketing program funding to help us reach some of these key markets in different ways with more information—including, of course, Europe.

[LaVar Payne, Conservative, Medicine Hat, AB]

Is that through a check-off? Or how does the funding come from Alberta or the Canadian barley growers?

[Lisa Skierka]

In Alberta the farmers pay $1 per tonne of check-off. So when they sell their barley, $1 a tonne comes to the Alberta Barley Commission.

It's what is called “mandatory refundable” in Alberta under our legislation, which means that they have to pay it, but we give it back to them if they want their money back. Traditionally we run at about 7% in terms of refunds.

[The Chair, Conservative, Bev Shipley]

Thank you, Mr. Payne.

We will now go to Madam Brosseau for five minutes.

[Ruth Ellen Brosseau, NDP, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

Thank you, Chair.

I have a few questions.

First, 89% is for animal production and 20% is for malting. In my area, we have a non-profit group that's getting together and really working on the development of organic barley being grown in Quebec.

We make quite awesome beer. We have a lot of microbreweries, and it's really nice to see. I've participated quite a few times at beer festivals in my riding. A group of producers got together, I think about 12 to 15 of them, with their barley and malt, and we were able to have local beer made by the microbreweries. I think this is a nice trend.

I think you mentioned, too, that a lot of the barley we're going to be exporting to the European Union is malt—so I guess they'll have a chance to make more beer in Europe? Is that kind of what you're looking at?

[Lisa Skierka]

I can assure you that there is plenty of malt barley to go around.

[Ruth Ellen Brosseau, NDP, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

I know there is.

We've talked a lot of positives. Do you see anything negative, anything that could be an obstacle to attaining this wonderful market, the European Union?

[Brian Otto]

A number of things could impact our ability to access that market. One them would be the transportation to get it there. That can happen. Not all the time, but it can be an impediment. The cost of transportation, to be competitive...but those are all determined by the marketplace. If our costs of production and our costs of getting it there are competitive with wherever else they can get the barley, certainly we can access that market. It all boils down to whether we can remain competitive in those markets.

You brought up the microbrewery. That is the fastest-growing market for malt barley in North America, both in Canada and in the United States. Western barley growers identified that in a study we did three years ago, and certainly the malt companies are paying attention to that. Microbreweries are very specific about what they're looking for. They target certain specifications—what we call specs—on their barley. The maltsters are paying more attention to what they are asking for, and every microbrewery wants something different. It's a challenge for them, but it's a huge, growing market.

[Ruth Ellen Brosseau, NDP, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

Canadians are more and more interested in where their food comes from, and when they can buy locally; it gives them a push to spending that extra money.

On certification for organic barley; is there a lot of organic barley produced? Will there be more organic barley exported? Is certification something you think they would want in the European Union?

[Brian Otto]

Certainly, certification of organic barley would be a benefit and a marketing tool you could use into Europe. I'm not sure, and I can't speak to this, but the amount of organic barley grown in my part of the world would be very small, and it would be grown for what I call an IP market —somebody looking for organic barley of a certain variety, that meets certain specs.

[Ruth Ellen Brosseau, NDP, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

I know that in Quebec, there's more and more organic barley being grown, especially in my area, because we make amazing beer.

[Lisa Skierka]

On that end, the good-news story here is that if somebody wants a specific type of barley, there is the freedom to have it contracted directly. If somebody wants to create a unique craft beer and wants a specific type of barley—a heritage type of barley, anything along those lines—they can contract that to be grown. It is a local-food story.

I always laugh; quinoa is the “grain of the moment”. It's really nice, and we like quinoa, but barley is as healthy as quinoa. It's an awesome local food, and that's one message I'm hoping we'll be spreading the joy of—unfortunately, not before Christmas—early in the New Year because we have a cookbook coming out.

[Ruth Ellen Brosseau, NDP, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

Do I have another question?

[The Chair, Conservative, Bev Shipley]

You have 20 seconds.

[Ruth Ellen Brosseau, NDP, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

You mentioned transport. We've talked in committee about low-level presence, and contamination during transport. Is that something you're thinking about? With the transport to the European Union, is there more of a chance to have contamination, low-level presence of genetically modified contaminants?

[Brian Otto]

The only way you could end up with low-level presence in barley is if a genetically modified seed accidentally got mixed in with barley.

My experience in the barley industry is, if a customer wants a certain type of barley, certain specs, it's IP’d and segregated so that contamination doesn't happen. Especially if you're trying to export into a country or the European Union, you have to be very conscious to keep the barley segregated. When I ship malt barley to my malt plants in Alberta or in Montana, they go into a truck, and before I even load that truck, I crawl up on the top of the truck to make sure it's clean. That's what has to happen.

[The Chair, Conservative, Bev Shipley]

Thank you very much.

We'll now go to Mr. Preston.

[Joe Preston, Conservative, Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, and thank you both for being here.

I'm going to cover a couple of different areas. I'll start with where Mr. Allen was—by signing CETA, we gained 500 million new customers; 500 million new people who could buy your products. But we have to be able to sell to them. We have to find a niche.

Mr. Otto, you mentioned the $120-tonne tariff currently in there. If you can drop your price by $120 tonne, it might make that part easier to sell, or a little more profit to you, maybe half and half would be the way to do it. You also said that 80% of all barley goes into feed for beef and hogs. We've had beef farmers and hog farmers here, or producer groups, telling us that they expect to sell an awful lot more beef and hogs. I think some of them come from your area of the country.

Would that mean that you will have to sell a lot more barley to those people if that's the preferred feed?

I think the answer is yes, but I'll let you say it.

[Brian Otto]

Of course, if there's a demand for feed barley and that puts the bottom line in the farmer's pocket, you bet there's going to be more barley acres.

[Joe Preston, Conservative, Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON]

Okay.

I'm back to the healthiness of beer here for a second; I want a note for my wife, please.

[Voices]

Oh, oh!

[Joe Preston, Conservative, Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON]

On the healthiness of barley, you mentioned something else there besides the beer and the great organic beer from different parts of Quebec that would be fantastic to sample one day—hint, hint.

You mentioned hulled barley, or fibrous barley, something that is a health food piece to barley that I had not heard of. Could you...?

[Lisa Skierka]

We did so much marketing. How did you miss it?

[Joe Preston, Conservative, Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON]

It wasn't written on the label.