Yes, I've learned a lot of what I've learned by being at conferences and being on national boards. I have visited some of the research stations across the country. It is really important, especially in organics, because a lot of the systems we use in organics do not provide a lot of income to a chemical manufacturer, or there's a lot less of an incentive to find, let's say, mechanical weeding solutions or solutions other than a chemical. That's not to badmouth anything or say that one's right or one's wrong, but I believe that a lot of what we do in organics is for the greater good, with fewer chemicals in the environment and in food. It's part of a whole system, but it's very hard to get that looked at, and it's very hard to get investment in that. However, it's really important, as new weeds come up and as new systems come up, that we stay competitive.
There is a model that I think could potentially help. This is not to say we should close research centres—I would never go there—but on-farm research is something that is supported a lot in the States. Actually, they had a grant in Maine, which is the state next to me, where the government bought a whole bunch of different cultivation equipment and then loaned it out to farmers all over. I actually imported some of that myself, because I'm friends with a researcher, and I go down to visit their meetings. I had to pay taxes as though I bought it, but I imported some of that to try it on the farm. Then I was able to say, “Okay, I'll buy a $10,000 unit.”