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By Alice McFarlane

Crop and Livestock Research funding

ADF research funding to benefit prairie producers

Jan 13, 2023 | 12:03 PM

MELFORT, Sask. – The federal and Saskatchewan governments will contribute $17.6 million for research that benefits farmers and ranchers.

The Agriculture Development Fund (ADF) provides the money needed for basic and applied agriculture research in crops, livestock, forages, processing, soils, environment, horticulture, and alternative crops.

Saskatchewan Agriculture Minister David Marit said $10.3 million would go towards 49 research projects.

Some examples include exploring the diversity of Fusarium root to species infecting pulse crops, insect response to climate change and ag inputs across the prairies, and a nutritionally balanced pulse-oilseed protein-based beverage.

Encouraging this kind of research and innovation is the first step to staying competitive but these projects take money and time, according to Marit.

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“Let’s face it, you can’t do some of this plant research in one year or two years, it usually takes three or four years to develop and design,” Marit said. “That’s why we invest in this because it makes good sense when you can increase production on pulses or look after disease control in pulses or increase cereal production or oil content.”

University of Saskatchewan’s Crop Development Centre (CDC) will receive $7.2 million in operational support over the next five years.

CDC Director Dr. Curtis Pozniak said the contribution will support the work of eight crop development centre breeders and scientists as well as 80 to 100 research graduates, students, and other support staff.

“I think it’s important that having these sorts of resources to fund the center helps support the scientists that train students, to support the breeding programs, the pathology programs, so that they function well,” Pozniak said. “That attracts students from all over the world to come and train here as graduate students, masters, and PhD level. But it also supports developments of ideas that we can then bring into training the next generation of scientists.”

This annual investment helps generate new knowledge, information and technologies for producers and food processors, such as feed and nutrition information for ranchers and new crop cultivars and production information for farmers.

An additional $4.6 million came from Alberta Wheat and Barley, Alberta Canola, Manitoba Crop Alliance, Manitoba Canola, Sask Barley, Sask Canola, Saskatchewan Forage Seed Development Commission, Prairie Oat Growers, Saskatchewan Cattlemen’s Association, Saskatchewan Pulse Growers, Sask Wheat and the Western Grains Research Foundation.

The full list of funded projects can be found here.

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alice.mcfarlane@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @farmnewsNOW