Environment committee  When it comes to canola, we are a world leader. We produce roughly 70% of all canola traded in the world. We're a big exporter of it. As Rick outlined, our farmers are some of the most efficient in the world, and some of the most environmentally friendly, certainly when compared

Environment committee  That's correct.

Environment committee  Do you want to take this, Rick?

Environment committee  You're right. It's a really exciting world when it comes to what we can do with plants to make them be more productive and use nutrients more efficiently. I'll give you an example. We've talked about using fertilizer most effectively. When we grow plants, we use nitrogen, which

Environment committee  I'll start, and Rick, if you want to, you can add to it. When we set our targets, we're looking at how much we can grow with the technology we have and with the land that we have in Canada. Our targets to 2025 take into account that it's not feasible for us to put more land into

Environment committee  —but as for the limit to how much we can grow, I think we're still discovering it. We really believe that we can achieve 52 bushels per acre by 2025, and in canola we're already Canada's number one source of income on the farm and a major source of export. We think there's a lot

Environment committee  I'll speak briefly, and maybe you will want to add something, Rick. Canola is one of the healthiest oils. We've been sending all of our canola oil either to the food market or to biodiesel. We haven't explored opportunities like that, primarily because it's a relatively new crop

Environment committee  In my remarks, I was referring to our processing plants. In the canola industry, we have 14 processing plants across the country. For those processing plants to continue to be in Canada, they need to be competitive. Otherwise, the processing plants to turn canola seed into oil an

Environment committee  Could I add to that, Chair?

Environment committee  Very briefly, Canada's actually behind other major jurisdictions in reducing greenhouse gases by including renewable fuel in diesel. Europe has about a 6% to 7% renewable content in diesel. Some places in the United States have as high as 10% and 20%, in places like Minnesota, re

Environment committee  I'll build on what Ron said with respect to research. Research in agriculture has been an investment of the federal government for more than 100 years, since the country was founded. The reason we invest public money in agricultural research is that once we produce a result, it

Environment committee  I can't speak to the forecasts of the impacts of a carbon tax, but what I would say is that government regulation has a real benefit, or a negative impact, on our industry. One area I'd highlight where it could be more beneficial is plant breeding innovation. We've heard about GM

Environment committee  What I said was that we see some areas of regulation as really necessary. Changing the way we regulate plant breeding innovation is one area that we see as being very helpful for us in the future.

Environment committee  Thank you very much for your question. I appreciate the spirit of your comments. I can give you some background on the goals we, in the canola industry, have had in the past, and our success in achieving those goals. For example, as an industry we take the targets that we set

Environment committee  Yes. Thanks so much for the question. When we look at our sustainability targets, all of them are about lowering our environmental impact. Specifically to your question about which ones will have the greatest impact on sinking carbon into the soil, when we look at increasing pro