Agriculture committee  Sure. Actually, we don't purposely balance it, but just by virtue of the diversity of agriculture across Canada, it gets balanced. In B.C. there'll be a fair amount of supply managed. Through the west it's more grains and oilseed crops. Into Ontario it's very diverse, even into greenhouses.

Agriculture committee  I'd really like to answer number three. When you think of agriculture biotechnology and clean technology, that's actually pretty exciting when you look at what the opportunity is. For the Royal Bank, we're actually developing a strategy on how we can get ahead of our competition in meeting the needs of companies or individuals who are in that space.

Agriculture committee  No, not John Deere green.

Agriculture committee  I'll be quick, because we have a few things to go through. I grew up on a beef cow-calf farm in southwestern Ontario, and came up through 4-H and Junior Farmers. I have a degree in agriculture economics. I've been an agriculture banker for 25 years, a graduate of the advanced agriculture leadership program, and past president of the Ontario Agri Business Association.

Agriculture committee  On the second question, my advice would be to treat your operation as a business. There are a lot of reasons as far as lifestyle is concerned to want to live in a farming environment, but first and foremost, treat it as a business. Third, as far as the initiatives are concerned, we sponsor the agriculture speaking series.

Agriculture committee  When you think about the recession we've come through, one reason the Canadian banks came through quite well was because of our strategy of keeping a very diversified portfolio. For that reason, agriculture is a really important component that keeps that diversity in our portfolio.

Agriculture committee  Sure, I'll answer that. We talk a lot about the credit products that banks provide, but really there are a whole host of other products and services. When we have a conversation, depending on the commodity that the individual is producing, it could be around foreign exchange, it could be around trade arrangements.

Agriculture committee  I would say that what we can provide to young farmers in a lot of instances is business and financial advice. That's key to setting up a commercially viable operation and to helping them meet their long-term goals. I think that's key. So when you ask if there are different programs or different criteria for our young farmers as opposed to established farmers, the answer would be no, to the extent that when we assess credit, the operation needs to be viable.

Agriculture committee  Actually, my advice to a young farmer would not be to go the route of no down payment, because I think when you look at the cycles in agriculture and how prices go up and down, you need to have some equity so you can withstand some of the bumps and the things that don't always go as planned.

Agriculture committee  And at Royal Bank, we have no specific or different pricing for HILLRP loans; they're priced in accordance with the rest of our agriculture portfolio.