Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
I appreciate the opportunity to participate in this meeting with members from the working group. I am proud to be from Saskatchewan, representing the riding of Saskatoon—Rosetown—Biggar, where some of the finest barley is grown. The community of Biggar is also home to Prairie Malt.
My question is going to be about the maltsters. In recent years Canadians maltsters have said that they have had difficulty finding premium barley to make malt. We've also seen a decrease in malt barley acres in recent years. So how would an open market affect the farming practices of barley producers, and how would grain handling in an open market affect quality and the varieties of malt barley grown?