The dollar amounts weren’t large, but two agricultural sectors celebrated research funding last week that promises to increase competitiveness.
At the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association annual meeting March 23, agriculture minister Gerry Ritz announced a $6 million fund to help finance a “research cluster” of scientists and industry leaders who will investigate improvements in industry priority areas.
It supplements a CCA research fund of close to $1.2 million and more than $450,000 committed from provincial governments.
The next day, Egg Farmers of Canada (EFC) said it will use several million dollars of producer contributions to its research fund to finance egg issue-dedicated research chairs at Canadian universities. The money comes from a levy on egg sales.
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The first research chair will be at Université Laval in Québec City and will receive $550,000 over the next five years.
EFC said it plans to eventually fund research chairs at universities in Atlantic Canada, Ontario and Western Canada.
Research issues include egg health issues and making egg production more efficient and environmentally sustainable.
The story was similar for the cattle industry, although most of the money for its research project will come from Ottawa.
Outgoing CCA president Brad Wildeman told a news conference the money would be used to encourage research such as improving cattle genetics, reducing production costs, developing superior feed grain and finding ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from cattle production.
“This is very good news,” Wildeman said. “It is a great idea that we have supported for years.”
Ritz said he would not speculate on how the money will be spent. Researchers, academics and industry leaders will determine the best use of the money.
“I’m not going to prejudge how this will be paid out,” he told the news conference after his announcement. “The industry is going to drive a lot of it, working with the scientists.”
The $6 million he announced for beef research was not an additional government spending commitment to the sector. Instead, it was an allocation of a small amount of the $158 million five-year Agri Innovation program announced in 2009.
However, the agriculture minister bristled when a reporter suggested it was not really an announcement of new support for the industry because it came from a fund already approved by Parliament.
“(It is) new money,” he said. “It hasn’t been spent before.”
