Thank you very much, Roger.
Today's egg farmers are experiencing unprecedented challenges, from summer-long droughts in the Prairies to mass forest fires to flooding and all of these incredible winter storms battering Atlantic Canada, all in the midst of a global pandemic. Supply chain disruptions have been constant and farmers have been at the front lines of it all, continuing to feed Canadians and providing strong domestic food security when we need it the most.
Climate change events have been one of the top causes of extreme supply chain disruptions in our sector. These events are occurring more and more frequently, as we've all seen. The level of destruction they have caused is continuing to increase.
We need proper funding to prepare for these events and to strengthen infrastructure and emergency preparedness where needed. Additionally, significant funds for research and sustainable initiatives are absolutely imperative to ensure the future of farming in Canada and to prevent more significant events from occurring.
Canadian egg farmers are leaders in best practices. Our innovative practices and new efficiencies have allowed Canadian egg farmers to reduce their environmental impact and footprint while still meeting Canada's growing demand for local eggs. Just as an example, in the past 50 years, we've reduced the environmental impact of egg production by 68% in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. There's a 68% reduction in water use, an 81% reduction in the land use and a 41% reduction in the energy required to produce eggs, a record we are very proud of.
However, the adoption, innovation and development of these new practices and efficiencies are often costly, placing a financial burden on farmers. This creates a barrier to implementing and developing new sustainable technologies, which therefore limits overall reductions in resource use, obstructing our path towards a possible net-zero future with predictable and mild weather events.
Additionally, hard policy choices such as a carbon pricing plan and a possible cap on emissions are forcing change ahead of available infrastructure, funding and affordable alternatives. This creates significant challenges, as many technologies are not advanced enough or remain too costly to adopt. In order to strengthen agricultural supply chains, farmers must be given the tools they need to develop and prevent extreme climate events. More government funding and collaboration with industry are required to maintain the transition to net zero that supports farmers, consumers, the environment and Canadian supply chains.
When these events do occur, our sector requires a quick response and appropriate assistance from government in order to prevent further damage to our supply chain. While we are pleased to have a government that provides recovery programs to farmers, these programs do not go far enough. AgriStability provides a good example. It can be accessed only once a farmer's production margin falls 30% below the historical average. A 30% drop caused by events out of a producer's control is a huge hit for farmers to take. We would like to see this changed so the program can be accessed when production margins fall below 15% of historical average.
Roger, I'll turn things back over to you.
Thank you.