Agriculture committee  I think I've explained it fairly well so far. There is no question that there were some issues associated with that particular market circumstance and they were addressed. On the question of Gibson Capital, we took an honest view that we needed to find an expert firm in this field.

Agriculture committee  Wheat and malting barley at both domestic and international levels.

Agriculture committee  The question I was wanting to answer was associated with the view that the CWB had lost $300-odd million. There's no question that the $89 million was an actual loss. The $220-odd million that is referred to, which we disclosed in our annual report, is actually an opportunity loss only.

Agriculture committee  I don't know what the plan is. What would typically happen is that you would find a number of international trading companies become the buyers from the farmers and they would export it through to the international marketplace.

Agriculture committee  That's probably one way of thinking about it. The farmer in that environment would always have the opportunity not to sell and to try to find a better market. That's certainly inherent in a deregulated environment.

Agriculture committee  Yes, I believe so.

Agriculture committee  I don't know.

Agriculture committee  They were $39 million.

Agriculture committee  Can I talk about—

Agriculture committee  I would suggest that the farmers could probably be in a surplus position over the course of the next couple of years.

Agriculture committee  That's right.

Agriculture committee  That's a matter for the board of the Canadian Wheat Board.

Agriculture committee  Yes, I certainly could.

Agriculture committee  May I answer that?

Agriculture committee  It is true that $89 million was lost, associated with the producer payment options and the hedging of them, and that went to the contingency fund. That's a fund that is plus and minus and absorbs those losses.