(Left to right) Western Grains Research Foundation chair Laura Reiter, Canadian Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Lawrence MacAulay and WGRF executive director Wayne Thompson.

Second agronomy cluster to receive funding

The Integrated Crop Agronomy Cluster will be publicly backed for another five years

The Integrated Crop Agronomy Cluster will receive more than $7.6 million for its second phase. Funding, which comes from sources including the Western Grains Research Foundation, the Sustainable Canadian Agriculture Partnership and industry partners, will cover a five-year period between April 2023 and March 2028. Why it matters: Projects will tackle everyday agronomic problems faced

Opinion: Keep balance in research funding

Opinion: Keep balance in research funding

Many ingredients went into the mix that resulted in the extraordinary success of agriculture in feeding a growing population. There’s the ability of farmers to constantly learn and increase their management skills. There are also vast improvements in technology – mechanical, digital and biological – that have come from researchers in both private companies and


Undated image of a participant at the fall ag fair at Rocklyn, Ont., about 40 km southeast of Owen Sound. (Ontario Visited video screengrab via YouTube)

Ontario trims minimum memberships for ag, hort societies

Eligibility thresholds for provincial operating grants lowered

Rules taking effect with the new year are expected to make it easier for Ontario agricultural and horticultural societies to qualify for provincial grants in the face of a membership crunch. The province on Friday confirmed amendments to regulation 16, attached to its Agricultural and Horticultural Organizations Act, kick in effective Sunday (Jan. 1, 2023).

Federal Ag Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau (r) visits the Ag in Motion outdoor farm show near Langham, Sask. on July 20, 2022. (Greg Berg photo)

Ag ministers lock in next policy funding framework

AgriStability compensation rate to rise; new EGS program planned; some agmins decry feds' approach on fertilizer emission cuts

The new federal-provincial ag policy funding framework due to take effect next April 1 will include a new ecological goods and services plan and a sweetened compensation rate for AgriStability. Following meetings this week in Saskatoon, federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau and her provincial and territorial counterparts on Friday mapped out the bones of their


The new program aims to help offset some of the costs associated with water management.
 Photo: File

Sask farmers, ranchers get cash for water management

Saskatchewan farmers and ranchers have $700,000 flowing their way from the Water Security Agency (WSA), in an effort to improve responsible agricultural management projects such as watersheds. The pilot program is being labeled as the Agricultural Water Management Fund.  “Effective water management may be one of the most important factors driving Saskatchewan’s growth in the

(RoyalFair.org video screengrab via YouTube)

AgriCommunication plan to seek farmer-consumer dialogue

Ag exhibitions among expected beneficiaries

The federal government has put up new funding toward improving consumers’ awareness of the “strengths” of Canada’s ag sector — and to improve farmer awareness of what those consumers want and expect. Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau on Thursday announced an $8 million, three-year funding envelope for the first of two streams of what’s now called


(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Saskatchewan ranchers backed for runoff control

Funding on offer for earth-moving work

Cow-calf producers in Saskatchewan may be able to get cost-shared funds from the federal/provincial Farm Stewardship Program to build ponds, ditches, dikes or berms to collect or manage runoff. The province and federal government on Tuesday announced such work now qualifies as a beneficial management practice (BMP) covered under the program. Eligible beef cow-calf producers

A hawk on a fence post in Saskatchewan’s Qu’Appelle Valley. (Bobloblaw/iStock/Getty Images)

Indigenous-led ag projects get federal funding

Funding to support business planning and other studies

Sixteen projects to help support Indigenous-led food system initiatives will receive $4 million from the federal government. “Our government is working to create a more inclusive agriculture sector that respects the values of Indigenous Peoples,” Agriculture Minister Marie Claude Bibeau said in a statement Friday. “These investments are intended to ensure that Indigenous Peoples have


Provincial childcare report offers few fixes for farm families

Provincial childcare report offers few fixes for farm families

Funding channels for the extended-hours care farm families need are already in place but need more dollars

A recent provincial report which recommends the province fix Manitoba’s childcare system through ‘market stewardship’ is just more of what got us into this mess, says one childcare expert. “In a way it’s just a new rhetorical package for an old reality,” said Susan Prentice, a childcare researcher from the University of Manitoba. The report’s

File photo of a pea crop south of Ethelton, Sask. on Aug. 1, 2019. (Dave Bedard photo)

New federal program to help develop on-farm carbon sinks

Plan to build out AAFC's 'Living Labs' concept across country

The federal government plans to put up $185 million over the next 10 years for farmers to work with scientists and others on new ways to pull carbon out of the air. Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau and Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson on Thursday announced the Agricultural Climate Solutions (ACS) program, which the government said is