Thanks, Bob.
The pandemic has demonstrated the need for effective and efficient use of vaccines and preparation ahead of potential health events. This includes threats of animal disease outbreaks. A serious animal health incident would have large-scale impacts on our sector.
We are, simply put, not ready for the real threat of an FMD outbreak and must immediately invest in a Canadian FMD vaccine bank as our neighbours to the south have. It could have a $50-billion to $60-billion financial impact on the Canadian economy. This is a key priority for Canadian beef producers and is one of our top federal budget asks.
The recent severe weather events and COVID have also shown us the importance of the business risk management programs to the economic viability of our producers. We have used AgriRecovery to address floods, fires, processing capacity and drought in the last number of years. Continued and increased investment in the BRM programs is needed as it helps smooth out bumps in the road for our producers in enabling them to better plan for the future.
We thank the teams who have worked on designing and delivering these programs, and look forward to making future improvements so that they are even better suited for future challenges. While today's time doesn't allow me to get into all of the nuances and details, we would be pleased to meet with members of the committee to look more comprehensively at solutions for the future.
Thank you. We look forward to your questions.