Agriculture committee  Just to interject on that, we've done some work. You had Brady Deaton in here about a month ago, and he's done some work looking at land rents and land values. The vast majority of land rental contracts are simple handshake agreements, and I think that reflects a trust within the farming community, in that if you as a farmer, as a tenant, do something unfavourable on that land, the reputation is going to be lost if you haven't paid, so you're going to have trouble finding land.

Agriculture committee  I was in a commercial bank, and this commercial bank goes in and out of agriculture. I think that's the major difference. There are some operating lines versus long-term loans, but the major difference is that FCC's business is agriculture, and for the commercial banks, it depends on the time.

Agriculture committee  The only thing I would add is that the tax policy will change the absolute amounts. If you can facilitate the means of how we're going to split that amount, that's a difficult part. As Ron has mentioned, the tax laws involve the dollar. The tough part is actually how we are going to split the absolute amount.

Agriculture committee  Definitely. That's one of the things we've seen a lot of in the agricultural sector, in terms of the machinery or the services that are provided by others, particularly input suppliers on the crop side.

Agriculture committee  I don't believe so, but I think that's a good distinction. Part of the reason for the increase in land values is the future growth and what it's going to be worth five years, 10 years, and 25 years from now. Technology doesn't have that. Arguably, it can decay very rapidly. It depends.

Agriculture committee  Sorry, it's just the last few sentences. They were able to farm because asset values were significantly less, and the returns were generated through their labour, rather than through capital. It is much more complicated for my brother and brothers-in-law. Successful transfers in a capital-intensive sector involve clear communication between all parties.

Agriculture committee  I very much appreciate the opportunity to testify to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food. It is an honour, and I hope I can justify the invitation with information that is useful to your deliberations. Today I will speak about the effects of debt on the ability to expand any farm and to transfer an operation between generations.