The Canadian and Saskatchewan governments will jointly invest $6.8 million towards livestock and forage research projects in the province. This investment marks a 14 per cent increase from 2023’s financial commitment to agricultural development.

Announced by Canada’s Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Lawrence MacAulay, along with Saskatchewan Agriculture Minister David Marit, the funding will be provided through the Agriculture Development Fund (ADF), under the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership (Sustainable CAP). The collaborative, five-year, $3.5-billion investment involves Canada’s federal, provincial, and territorial governments, and aims to advance the country’s agri-food and agri-product sectors. The initiative will allocate $1 billion to federal programs and activities, and commit a cost-shared (60 per cent federal and 40 per cent provincial/territorial) $2.5 billion for programs devised and delivered by provinces and territories.

The $6.8 million investment will support 30 new research projects in 2024, each of which has been awarded funding on a competitive basis. The selected projects focus on areas critical to national agricultural development, such as the development of a rapid and sensitive pathogen surveillance method for bovine respiratory disease in cattle, the creation of new red clover cultivars tailored for Western Canada, and African swine fever preparedness—specifically evaluating manure management, treatment strategies, and pathogen survival in mortality management.

MacAulay emphasized the significance of such investments in helping the agriculture sector prepare for the future.

“These research projects will help our farmers adopt more sustainable practices and new methods to counter the effects of drought, diseases, and other environmental challenges they face, so they can stay competitive and protect their bottom line.”

In addition to the federal-provincial ADF funding, eight projects were supported by five industry co-funders: the Saskatchewan Cattlemen’s Association, the Saskatchewan Forage Seed Development Commission, the Saskatchewan Canola Development Commission, the Saskatchewan Pulse Growers, and the Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission. Collectively, the group contributed $478,597.

Underscoring the importance of Saskatchewan’s contribution to such research, Marit stated, “We need our livestock producers to stay competitive and profitable, and they do that by staying innovative through new ideas which become best practices. Investments in agricultural research help Saskatchewan maintain its status as a go-to jurisdiction when it comes to sustainably feeding the world while meeting our economic goals for the end of this decade and beyond.”