The Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) voiced its opinion last week to the House of Commons Standing Committee of Finance during its annual pre-budget consultation hearings.

CFA President Ron Bonnett said they were trying to outline some of the economic opportunities that are available in agriculture.

The group made a number of recommendations for the 2017 federal budget.

"One of the first things is making sure that the tax policy works so that younger farmers coming in to the business can do so with as little tax liability," said Bonnett. "Looking at the whole area of clean technology and how agriculture could contribute to that and then looking at some of the areas of market access and investments infrastructure throughout rural Canada that could really assist in helping producers take charge of some of those opportunities."

Bonnett added that Canada is well positioned to take advantage of trade deals such as CETA and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

CFA's Rural Policy Committee submitted another set of recommendations which included the expansion of natural gas and improving the infrastructure around Internet access.