I am pleased that you have invited me to speak to you today. You have asked me to talk about future directions the Canadian Grain Commission will take over the next few years. I will do this by giving you a picture of what's going on within Canada's grain industry and in world markets. I'm not going to give you the grand tour of all the changes taking place but a sense of what's important to both the Grain Commission and, I believe, to the industry as a whole. So here's the Reader's Digest version.
Biotechnology is the first item.
In Canada, more than 4,000 varieties of genetically modified plants are in field trials. For example, scientists are working on incorporating a gene from mustard into canola for blackleg resistance. In Saskatoon and Winnipeg, they are field testing herbicide-resistant wheat. Trade is a second item. Canada's grain industry has set a goal to double, by the year 2005, its combined capability to process and export grains and seeds.