Agriculture committee  Perhaps I could step in here. Research is one big thing. A lot of the farmers I know take part in research with seed manufacturers, or even with agribusinesses or whatnot, to produce top-notch, quality products. But there has been a lot of decrease in research throughout Canada.

Agriculture committee  It's a great question. I'm no expert in that field, but there are a lot of research farms throughout Canada. A lot of research is being done by manufacturers in privately owned companies that could definitely benefit from numerous advantages. Farmers could benefit from partnering with those companies and helping them out.

Agriculture committee  That depends on where farms are. I am located about 30 minutes away from Montreal. Since the city is growing and the pressure from property taxes is huge, I am not sure whether I will still be able to be a farmer in 20 or 30 years. There is also a lot of land speculation. People buy land and farms for purely speculative purposes.

Agriculture committee  I don't have all the information I need to comment on the labour shortage. However, I can definitely tell you that bringing foreign workers to Canada and Quebec is complicated. That certainly may have hurt agriculture in general.

Agriculture committee  In a way, lands and agricultural companies are their owners' pension fund. Given the price of inputs and goods, it's difficult to stand out and make a lot of money. These past few years have been very profitable for agriculture in Canada and in Quebec. We have also benefited from that abundance.

Agriculture committee  Transfers are extremely expensive and lead to a loss. People have to be able to save money. Mechanisms should be implemented to help farmers put some money aside. For instance, governments could offer young people tax incentives to help them acquire a farm.

Agriculture committee  I'd like to mention a provincial program in Quebec. Some older farmers don't actually want to see their farm go up for sale. They want to transfer it, but the next generation isn't there or they don't have kids, or the kids want to do something more profitable than farming, so they have moved off the farm.

Agriculture committee  That's a very good question. We are all members of the Union des producteurs agricoles du Québec, UPA. That organization has invested a tremendous amount of effort in reaching out to young people and creating the Fédération de la relève agricole du Québec—FRAQ. It's beneficial for the UPA to have that youth wing, which consists of not only young farmers, but also people aged 18 and over with an interest in agriculture.

Agriculture committee  Exactly. The gross margins are really narrow. It's difficult to save. We have lately had some solid years in agriculture, given that product prices were higher than ever. But it's still difficult to put money aside. In many cases, the land is our parents' pension fund. In order to survive, they have no choice but to sell their land at a fairly high price.

Agriculture committee  Thank you for the question, Ms. Raynault. I can talk about Quebec, or talk about what I know, so to speak. The most restrictive barrier to becoming involved in agriculture really is access to land, mainly because of the soaring land prices. It's therefore becoming more and more difficult for young people who aren't from farming families to go into agriculture.