We do not have a strategy calling on us to go to the United States in order to explain the Canadian system or what we are doing in Canada, but we do have one that informs American producers of what we are doing here.
For the past few years, the Canadian Federation of Agriculture has been in constant contact with the NFU and the Farm Bureau, the two main producer associations in the United States. Among our members, the Canadian Pork Council has had regular exchanges with the U.S. National Pork Producers Council. Similarly, there have been regular exchanges between American and Canadian producer groups regarding beef, potatoes and horticulture.
I believe that the producers know each other well and they are very familiar with the strategies used on both sides of the border. Canadian dairy producers have often held discussions and have often been invited to the United States, as guest speakers, to explain the Canadian milk supply management system. The United States has its own system, but it is different from ours. Right now, they are implementing their system by slaughtering cows. There is a surplus of milk and so the government is slaughtering cows. Several hundred thousand cows have been slaughtered to reduce production. The volume is controlled. At any rate, all companies are doing the same thing. The people in the automobile sector are trying to adjust their production. The same thing was done with aluminum a few years ago. In the Canadian west, potash mines reduced the amounts they were selling on the market. Indeed, they stopped producing in order to prevent a fall in prices.
Next October, the Canadian Federation of Agriculture will be hosting the AN/EU meeting, which is held alternately in America and Europe. When this meeting is held in America, it alternates between Canada, Mexico and the United States. Next October, the meeting will take place in Niagara Falls, Ontario, and this event will bring together all of the producers from the developed world.