Farm organizations are expressing surprise and regret at recently announced job cuts and closures that will affect close to 700 Agriculture Canada employees across Canada.
In Alberta, Wild Rose Agricultural Producers president Lynn Jacobson called the changes disappointing and short-sighted, suggesting that reduced spending on federal research programs contradicts Ottawa’s message.
“We thought, with the way … the government had set things up in Growing Forward 2 and the references that were made to innovation and investments in research, that we weren’t going to be touched on that end of things but what Ottawa is saying and what they are practicing are two different things.”
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In Manitoba, James Battershill, general manager of Keystone Agricultural Producers, said the announcement from Ottawa came as a surprise to the province and to the research community in Brandon, which will see work related to beef grazing systems transferred to Lacombe, Alta.
Unconfirmed reports suggest that at least eight researchers and their families based in Brandon will be faced with a decision to relocate to Alberta or remain in Manitoba and seek other employment.
“We definitely would have liked to have seen more consultation … so if there are negative impacts … or if there are possible ways that we can adapt to it in the near term, the more warning we get the better.”
Battershill said the decision to move beef research programs from Brandon to Lacombe overlooks the unique growing conditions that exists in different parts of the country.
“Sometimes there are unique differences between the provinces so to have made-in-Manitoba research that responds to Manitoba conditions, that’s also something that’s very important.”
In Saskatchewan, officials from the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan said the changes will expand the scope of research at Agriculture’s Canada’s Swift Current Research Centre but will have a negative impact on other Saskatchewan communities.
APAS president Norm Hall said it is too early to determine exact impact of the cuts on Saskatchewan’s agriculture sector.
“As they always say, the devil’s in the details,” said Hall.
“It might be good for Swift Current, but I’m not sure that it’s great for … agriculture.”
At least nine former Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration offices and two Agriculture Canada research stations are slated for closure.
Former PFRA offices in Dauphin and Beausejour, Man., Melville, Watrous, North Battleford and Weyburn, Sask., and Westlock, Peace River and Red Deer, Alta., will be closing along with Agriculture Canada research stations at Onefour and Stavely, Alta.
The cuts are part of an ongoing effort by Ottawa to transform the way Agriculture Canada operates and streamline program deliver, Agriculture Canada said in an email from dated May 13.
In addition to facility closures, beef grazing research currently based at Brandon will be transferred to Lacombe, Alta., and rangeland research at Lethbridge will move to Swift Current, Sask.
Work previously conducted at Onefour, Alta., and Stavely will also be moved to Swift Current.
Officials from Agriculture Canada offered few details about when the facilities will close and what will happen with employees and services at the 11 affected locations.
