Agriculture committee  We need research into carbon. Farmers care. We care about the environment. I had a little trouble with the interpretation on the question—I don't remember mentioning price-fixing in my introduction—but I do believe we care about the environment. We have for generations. In saying that, at no time should a policy affect production.

Agriculture committee  Absolutely. I think that would work right in tandem. I think the Competition Bureau needs more resources, and also probably needs more teeth. I see it at the CTA as well. If you want to talk about transportation issues in our country, I think the CTA needs more resources and more teeth too, which could help with some supply chain issues.

Agriculture committee  It starts right from the inputs we buy at the farm. Let's get some transparency around that and look at every link in the supply chain. We don't have a huge greenhouse sector here in Saskatchewan for me to speak exactly to the grocery store code of conduct, but I do understand that transparency around the behaviour of big corporations dictating how they are going to treat suppliers is an issue.

Agriculture committee  I don't think we are there yet, where we are being recognized for the credit side of it. I would like to see money going into research to ensure and figure out where the carbon is being sequestered. Let's take research money and put it into figuring carbon sequestration and not a tax.

Agriculture committee  Absolutely.

Agriculture committee  It can be voluntary, and they can sign on. Let's educate Canadians on what the code of conduct could do for them. I guess at that point I will decide which grocer I will shop from. Which one is going to treat the suppliers appropriately?

Agriculture committee  I think there needs to be some transparency around the meat sector. When a farmer produces a cow, it goes to a slaughter plant and it shows up on the grocery store shelf and in the prices we're paying there. That's an easy one to look at. With that one I think there are lots of links in the supply chain that could be researched.

Agriculture committee  Hearing stories about unfair trade when we have produce shipped to the big grocers, and the penalties that are paid for timely delivery, and all of that stuff, has been an issue. We just want to ensure that....The grocery code of conduct will get us there. It doesn't matter if you're a ma-and-pa grocery store in a small town in Saskatchewan or one of the big three in the city.

Agriculture committee  I do. That's why we're going to do this research into the farmer's share of the food dollar. I do get a shock. I don't blame it solely on the carbon tax, but the carbon tax does have an effect on almost every link in the supply chain. As we know in Canada, if it's on a grocery store shelf, it was brought in by a train or truck, which has a carbon tax.

Agriculture committee  It will have a huge impact—$150,000 on a 5,000-acre farm. It's unfathomable that we will get there on a carbon tax alone. It makes my skin crawl to think that's where we'll be, and then to be turned around and not recognized for the work that is done, ensuring that we have proper grasslands and that we have proper management of our farm soil.

Agriculture committee  It's had a huge impact. It's a cost that comes right off our bottom line. We've seen it go up every April 1 for the last number of years, and we have no control over passing that cost along or anything. Yes, we can track it. The numbers show that we're somewhere between $14,000 and $25,000 in carbon tax for an average farm in Saskatchewan.

Agriculture committee  Good evening. Thank you, Mr. Chair and committee members, for this invitation today to discuss the views of farmers on food inflation. As you mentioned, my name is Ian Boxall. I'm the president of the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan, which represents around 15,000 farm and ranch families.

Industry committee  Thank you for the question. I think that's absolutely it. As the dealership network becomes bigger, with individual dealers owning more dealerships across, they close some. Areas become under-serviced. That is exactly why we're here today. It's to present the fact that we don't have the necessary dealer network that we used to have to support the equipment in those remote and rural areas.

Industry committee  Sure. I think there probably are some alterations done when it comes to some of the emissions stuff. From my experience on my own farm, it is because they give lots of trouble. They give lots of software trouble. They give lots of trouble that is hard to fix. We lost days at one point on a combine that was giving us emissions issues.

Industry committee  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.