Mr. Speaker, that is a very important question because it actually laid the foundation to be able to move forward with UPOV '91. When the old single desk monopoly at the Canadian Wheat Board was in place, there was absolutely no demand or desire to move forward with new varieties. The old single desk was so fixated on high protein number one red that it was starting to lose market share around the world and we were hemorrhaging acres of wheat, durum, and barley, simply because of the constrictive, restrictive nature that it operated within. Once we made that change in 2012, and farmers have never looked back, they started to talk about how they could look forward to this new foundational piece with UPOV '91 to move them into the 21st century with the varieties that are required by our customers.
The Wheat Board always used to hold up Warburton's flour mills in Great Britain. I have had the opportunity to be in the mill and talk to the buyers and the owners there. They were to the point where they were actually going to drop away from Canadian content and move to Australia, Argentina, and other suppliers, some in the U.S. and so forth. We actually recaptured that. I am proud to say that Warburton's is actually buying 50% more now, on an annual basis, than it did in its best year under the old single desk. It is contracting acres directly with farmers in western Canada to get the variety and the types of grains it requires for the new mixes it is doing.
We have done a tremendous amount of work blending pea flour into noodles in the Pacific Rim area to get the protein in those noodles, which is a major part of their diet. A lot of good things are happening and it is simply because our farmers are innovative and they need the backstop. They need the tools that UPOV '91 will give them to continue that important work.