Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Good morning, Mr. Chair and members of the agriculture committee, and thank you for the opportunity to join you today and to speak on behalf of growers on the ongoing supply chain disruptions felt by the agriculture and agri-food sectors.
My name is Quinton Woods. I am the sales and plant operations manager at Gwillimdale Farms in Bradford, Ontario. I also serve on the Canadian Horticultural Council as the chair of the trade and marketing working group.
The Canadian Horticultural Council, also known as CHC, is an Ottawa-based national association that represents 14,000 fruit and vegetable growers across Canada involved in the production of over 120 different types of crops, with farm gate sales of $5.7 billion in 2020.
I'd like to begin my comments by saying that the supply chain disruptions we're facing today are not new disruptions and existed well before the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic; however, the public health challenges in the past two years have exacerbated economic and logistical challenges along the global supply chains.
Given the perishability of fruits and vegetables, our growers continue to feel these impacts and work daily to find solutions to ensure that consumers in Canada and around the world continue to have access to our safe, healthy and nutritious products. The increasing costs and delays along the supply chain threaten our food security and the long-term economic viability of the fruit and vegetable sector. Some of the challenges our growers face include but are not limited to crippling port congestions, delays in container shipping, inconsistent product delivery, persisting labour shortages and unprecedented increases of input costs.
Among the input costs we're seeing today is that our labour rates have increased through the roof, and the biggest problem with the labour rates is actually the shortage and the lack of access to labour. We also are experiencing increased prices for lumber, which impacts the availability of pallets; increased costs in pulp and plastic resin used to make cardboard boxes and plastic packaging; and increases in the price of crop protection products. One of the biggest cost increases we've seen this year is actually the cost of fertilizer, with some growers facing increases as high as 53%.
Lastly, one of the most important challenges—and very timely, based on recent events—is the availability of trucks and truck drivers. These shortages were there before the COVID-19 pandemic, but the introduction of the new border measures further reduced the supply of available truck drivers to haul our goods across international borders.
It is important to note that the costs associated with these disruptions cannot be fully borne by growers like me, and that, wherever possible, we will need to pass these on to consumers. Sadly, these increases, which are being felt by the end consumer, are likely to escalate and most affect those who can least afford it.
Now I'll pass it on to Rebecca Lee for her comments.