NFU supports recommendation to reverse AAFC research cuts

“AAFC must immediately halt employee terminations, resume research activities and suspend further facility and program closures to prevent irreversible losses while the minister considers his response,” Mount said.

The committee’s 20 recommendations are based on witness testimony and written briefs from farm groups, communities, research organizations, and workers’ unions.

At a closed-door meeting, members received a partial financial analysis that put the operating costs of the targeted facilities at $23.2 million a year over 10 years. The analysis did not include the costs of relocation, divestiture, or decommissioning.

“The AAFC financial analysis didn’t include the cost of abandoning specialized equipment and facilities — some paid for by non-AAFC funders — and partially completed projects, and destroying the value of future potential,” said Manitoba NFU farmer Dean Harder. “We strongly support the committee’s call for a detailed, site-specific cost-benefit analysis and its recommendation that AAFC look for other ways to reduce expenditures.”

In its written submission, the NFU said public-interest research matters most when farmers need unbiased work that isn’t driven by product sales — especially for plant breeding and organic and low-input systems. The NFU noted the Organic and Regenerative program at Swift Current is Canada’s only site for registration trials for cereal varieties developed for organic and low-input production. Those trials need organically managed sites to get valid results. The NFU said closing the program could destroy the trial plots and leave organic farmers without the on-the-ground data they need to pick varieties. It added the work can also help conventional farmers if fertilizer and pesticide supplies tighten, or if weeds become resistant to herbicides.

The report also highlights testimony from Steven Cole, mayor of Indian Head, Sask., who said it would be a mistake to assume private industry can replace cuts to public-sector agricultural research. He said private research would likely put less emphasis on environmental sustainability, soil health and long-term resilience, and that costs could be passed on to farmers through higher seed prices.

Witnesses also raised concerns about what the cuts could mean for livestock producers, with testimony from Alberta to Atlantic Canada. They described how the AAFC research network connects work on forage and grazing systems, feed and animal health, meat quality, and food safety, along with plant breeding (including forage crops and barley disease resistance). They said that full package of research is hard to replace if parts of the network are shut down.

The committee said Canada benefits from a wide, regional network of research facilities and made three linked recommendations: preserve unique and critical research programs that cannot be replicated elsewhere; prioritize research carried out in real farming conditions; and make sure research centres represent the diversity of agricultural soils across the country.

The committee also heard about the disruption these cuts have caused for employees and their communities. It noted communication restrictions AAFC has placed on affected employees and recommended they be able to publicly raise concerns about situations they believe are against the public interest. It also said the people doing the work — scientists, technicians, labourers and support staff — need to be respectfully included in any plan to carry out the recommendations.

“We are in the midst of a climate crisis. New pathogens, new insects and changing weather patterns are coming into play,” said Manitoba farmer Wayne James. “We need public research more than ever to do the research and plant breeding to deal with these new challenges.”

The NFU said it appreciates the committee’s attention to the concerns raised during the study, and urged MacDonald to adopt the recommendations, reverse the cuts and rebuild Canada’s public agricultural research capacity as soon as possible.

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alice.mcfarlane@pattisonmedia.com

by Alice McFarlane

NFU supports recommendation to reverse AAFC research cuts

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