Agriculture committee  I'm sorry, Frank, if I confused you.

Agriculture committee  With regard to Canada and the United States, agriculturally, trade is of great value to both countries. It's a road. If we have equivalent food safety systems, we shouldn't have border interference in any way. We're working towards that with the RCC, and we see big positives th

Agriculture committee  Sure, and I think that's a good one for all of us in the room. I think we all understand it. The Americans have what they call I houses at key points at all border crossings. So when our trucks show up at the border, they have to go to customs and they have to get approval. They

Agriculture committee  Well, in Canada, we feel that in the beef sector, if we don't disappear 70% of our production domestically this year and next year, and for the next possibly two years, we've failed domestically, only because of where the herd is. Our cow herd is down. We have heifer retention.

Agriculture committee  It is.

Agriculture committee  Yes, I sure can. I know that very well. We have it down now to about $17 a head this year because of improvements on yields. We were originally at $27.90, I believe. I think that's what the original was. We did commit to working hard over time to reduce the damages, but current

Agriculture committee  In the fat cattle, it's probably closer to 70% of the livestock that lives in Alberta. It just happens to be where the land is. I don't know how you put livestock on property in eastern Canada, where an acre is selling for $10,000. I'm not sure how you would feed cattle on that

Agriculture committee  I understand the question. I'm sorry, but I didn't know if you had finished asking.... Is that the question?

Agriculture committee  In the beef sector, we have programs that are being developed by the cow-calf operations. It's called hormone-free beef and it is beef raised without any antibiotics. The marketplace is finding itself. So there is a movement towards that type of process, but it is happening as we

Agriculture committee  I'll go back to my Schneiders days, although I'm dating myself now. Spring lamb used to be a huge business in Canada. There was the Catholic Church, and the Catholics ate lamb over Passover and on Good Friday. Lamb was a huge business. It disappeared. New Zealand came in with a f

Agriculture committee  Thank you. Larry, I'd like to thank you as the chair, and the agriculture committee, for allowing me to speak to you. I always find this a humbling experience. I appreciate your concern. I sincerely believe that's why we're here. There's another thing I have to mention. Last we

Agriculture committee  We just felt it was the right place to do it. Thank you, Mr. Chair, for that privilege. The other thing we would like to start out with is congratulations to the Minister of Agriculture for all the money he's spent travelling the world, being away from his family, to assist us w