With regard to the stresses that people feel on farms right now, there are so many and they're so varied. The very nature of agriculture in Canada is incredibly diverse, both in the size of farm operations and in the commodities they're producing. Generally speaking, what we want to see and what we advocate for a lot at CFA is improvement to the business risk management programs so that farmers have a financial backstop, so that they don't have this overwhelming stress that when something comes along that's well beyond their control they're going to lose everything.
It's an interesting combination, and I'm sure, Mr. Chair, you could speak to this. The combination of tradition, of multiple generations, of being viewed as a steward of the land and the environment in your community creates a high-stress situation all on its own.
Just in recent years, we've seen geopolitical issues. We've seen transportation issues. We see climate issues. We see carbon tax potential. We see many things that are being downloaded to farmers. Farmers, ultimately, are price taggers. We produce commodities. Very rarely do we have an opportunity to influence the price we're being paid.
Our government needs to make sure the foundation of our food system is well shored up and is well positioned so that the next generation of family farms can come along and do an exceptional job.