Agriculture committee  Taking a long-term perspective, we feel that we need to position and support our customers in the industry transition to a low-carbon economy, because otherwise we're going to be exposed to way too much risk stemming from climate change. We're starting right now in terms of putting in incentives for adopting production practices that are going to lower the carbon footprint in different operations.

Agriculture committee  I'm not aware of that particular situation, but I can tell you what usually happens. In a situation where a loan or a payment is in arrears, we immediately go to work on it. As I said, the ideal approach is to work proactively. You have to be able to restructure a payment schedule, extend amortization and come up with other solutions by comparing types of goods or available loans that would allow for a slightly different payment schedule.

Agriculture committee  That's a good way to put it. I think the main challenge arises when many factors come into play. For example, consecutive factors or problems of a similar nature may be associated with unexpected production variations. Some production variations may also be associated with unfavourable weather conditions combined with interest rate hikes.

Agriculture committee  To answer that question, I'd say that the key for us is to take a proactive approach to the businesses we work with. We're familiar with climate change, of course, and all the production challenges it entails. Consequently, our primary approach is really to be proactive. We've also adopted the same approach to other challenges, such as rising interest rates.

Agriculture committee  Good afternoon, Mr. Chair and members of the committee. Thank you for inviting me to join you today. My name is Jean-Philippe Gervais. I'm the executive vice-president of strategy and impact and chief economist at Farm Credit Canada, or FCC. FCC is a federal Crown corporation committed to the Canadian agriculture and food industry.