Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I thank the witnesses for being here today. Their testimony is greatly appreciated.
If we consider the average farm debt between 2011 and 2015, we see that there was a significant increase both in Quebec and in Canada.
However, the value of assets also increased significantly. A little earlier you were talking about land values. The representatives of Farm Credit Canada who testified here also spoke of an interesting increase in farming incomes. It seems that everything is going rather well in the agricultural milieu and that the future looks good. The agricultural sector will in fact be one of the five pillars of the economy in the course of the next years.
Of course risk is always inherent in debt. Interest rates are low right now and this encourages investment. That is a good thing, because we need it. We know that farms want to be more productive, and there is a lot of opportunity.
Did you analyze interest rates? What could protect at-risk agricultural producers? Low interest rates are a good advantage, but it wouldn't take much for things to be upended.
Mr. Groleau, I would like to hear what you have to say. Ms. Baillie, I would also like to hear your thoughts afterwards.