Thank you, Mr. Chair.
APAS is Saskatchewan's general farm organization, representing farmers and ranchers across the province.
Saskatchewan farmers have the largest farm sizes in the country. We need access to modern equipment to be able to grow our crops. In the last decade, farm equipment has gone through a significant amount of modernization. This modernization has been part of the story that has made Saskatchewan the world's most sustainable place to grow food, fuel and fibre. With the integration of digital and mechanical tools, we can do so much more with less, and we are 30 years ahead of the rest of the world when it comes to section control, zero till and precision agriculture.
Being world leaders in sustainability comes with added costs. Producers will spend millions of dollars this year on new pieces of equipment. In 2021, 5% of all farm expenses were for equipment, which does not include the fuel to operate them.
Saskatchewan has a very short growing season, which means that farmers' work is very time-sensitive. During harvest, seeding and other critical production times, if a farmer misses a single day of work, that can affect the quality, quantity and value of their crops. This can result in thousands of dollars of loss to the producer.
Being able to repair a piece of machinery in a prompt manner is extremely important. Typically, most of this work can be done on the farm by producers. A farmer can also go to a dealership or get work done by a third party or aftermarket repair shop. The current Copyright Act, however, limits what producers can do on the farm and what aftermarket repair shops can also do. Instead, farmers are required to go to the dealership for these repairs, adding additional delays and expense to getting the work done.
Ultimately, this adds an extra barrier and constraint to getting repairs done in a fast and efficient way. In fact, this can be so extreme that some producers will move to purchase replacement equipment just to keep production going, so when equipment breaks down, unable to get it repaired, they will have an added cost at that time to replace that piece of equipment.
Amending the Copyright Act to extend the work that producers and the aftermarket can do is essential to keeping the market transparent and competitive. Producers aren't looking for ways to get out of safety control features or emission controls. We want to be able to repair our equipment in the most efficient and cost-effective way for our farms. Producers instead are looking to see amendments that will update the Copyright Act for 21st century agriculture and bring us in line with our international counterparts.
Saskatchewan producers continue to have a good relationship with their equipment dealers, and we value the knowledge and experience that they bring to the industry. We value the innovations manufacturers are continuously making to help make agriculture successful. Producers, however, want more flexibility and ability to control their costs. Changes to the Copyright Act would facilitate this. Our machinery and equipment have allowed us to achieve this, but that also means that our expenses are high, and we need to have the ability to control the costs in all ways.
I thank you for the time to be able to speak on behalf of the agriculture industry on this important matter. APAS intends to submit a brief to this committee before the end of your discussion.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.