Farmers are at the forefront whenever there are significant changes. Last year, we had significant droughts in the Prairies, particularly Saskatchewan, where our canola production was down to 18.3 million tonnes.
If it weren't for advances in seed technology, as my colleague Brian alluded to earlier, some of those farmers would have been relying solely on crop insurance, but because of advances in research and development—increases in drought tolerance with crops like canola, soybean, corn, etc.—they were able to get off a decent-sized crop.
For canola, it's moisture, nitrogen and then not too much heat. There are certainly going to be challenges. However, gene editing—now that the government is providing clarity on that pathway to commercialization—is a real opportunity for Canada to take back some of those global R and D dollars to invest in crops that need less water, can deal with greater heat and can be grown in different soil zones.