Monsanto Canada officially unveiled its $12 million canola breeding centre in Winnipeg yesterday.
The substantial investment in canola should pay off in two ways, said company officials.
It will push the company toward its goal of doubling canola yields by 2030 and help it grab a greater share of canola acres.
“We’d like to think we’re just at the early part of our growth,” said Neil Arbuckle, Monsanto canola marketing lead, following a public tour of the centre, located at the University of Manitoba.
“In 2010, Monsanto germplasm was just over 16 percent of the (canola) market. We used to be around 12 (percent),” he added. “Bayer’s on about 48 (percent of acres) and Pioneer’s probably in the 18 to 20 percent range…. In the next five years we’d like to achieve 25 percent (of the marketplace).”
The new centre is the result of years of efforts by Monsanto Canada management to convince officials at the company’s headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri, that canola is well worth the investment.
“For canola, it was really about selling the viability of this crop to our organization,” said Monsanto Canada president Derek Penner.
“What we did is we looked at the global industry…. When you look at the number of acres in North America and you look at the number of acres in Europe, it’s a very large crop for this company.”
Last year Monsanto confirmed its commitment to canola when the company announced plans to double the oilseed’s yields by 2030.
The centre in Winnipeg is one of Monsanto’s two hubs for breeding canola in the world, with the other facility located in France. Monsanto Canada custom designed the 29,000 sq. foot centre in Winnipeg, Penner said. The new building is a significant improvement over the company’s previous breeding facility in Winnipeg, he added, which was located in a strip mall.
Approximately 40 staff will work the breeding centre, which uses geothermal heat and other energy efficient technologies.
