Agriculture committee  Yes, that's far simpler.

Agriculture committee  Yes, actually it can be literally days or weeks. Probably our worst harvest in recent memory was in 2019. Some of you may have seen that it had the tag line or the name “harvest from hell”. We were just on a mad scramble. Typically you try to keep ahead of the harvesting combines with the dryer, but sometimes you can't so you end up putting your grain in your bins from the combines, but it's not really in a condition for long-term storage.

Agriculture committee  Thanks for the question. I think I mentioned that I'm from Alberta, and we have had a carbon tax. We had it for a few years, and then we didn't have a carbon tax. It's been a bit of back and forth. To nail down the actual cost, I did a little bit of digging into my own billing, and it was quite difficult to determine what I actually personally had paid.

Agriculture committee  I would have to say that I'm not aware of any. As I said in my testimony, I did an upgrade on my dryer a number of years ago, and as far as I know, I am as current, if you will, or as up-to-date as possible with the latest technology on my dryer for efficiency. There's just nothing else available.

Agriculture committee  It does take time. All these things cost money, and if money were no object, I'm sure every farm in the Prairies that has a grain dryer would be up to the latest and greatest, but we have so many different demands on us: upgrading equipment here and there, new tractors, combines and what have you.

Agriculture committee  Yes, that's completely fair to say. Our money comes from the crops we grow when we sell them. Having an extra cost is the Achilles heel, if you will, of the crop sector, of agriculture like that. I am a price-taker. I cannot add a surcharge if I sell a load of grain and I need another $100 to cover my costs.

Agriculture committee  Thank you. My name is Mike Ammeter. I'm the chair of the Canadian Canola Growers Association. I farm at Sylvan Lake, Alberta, which is an hour and a half north of Calgary. I grow canola, pulses, wheat and barley on 1,400 acres. With me today is Dave Carey, CCGA's VP of government and industry relations.