BANFF, Alta. – Farmers may learn as early as this spring what Ottawa sees as its spending priorities for agricultural research.
A plan outlining those priorities is being developed based on consultations done earlier this winter with the industry. The plan likely will go to federal agriculture minister Chuck Strahl for his consideration within the next two months.
The federal government spends more than $300 million annually on agricultural research across the country. Steve Morgan Jones, director general of Agriculture Canada’s national science programs, would not hint last week at what future spending priorities might be.
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However, he said consultations showed the agricultural community sees research as important for everything from primary production through to the making of foods. The consultations also underlined the fact that research needs vary for different parts of the country.
“In building up national goals, we have to be very much aware that there are regional differences across the country, and we do need to take that into account in the research planning process,” said Morgan Jones, interviewed during the annual meeting of the Prairie Registration Recommending Committee for Grain.
A third dominant theme from the consultations was that research on livestock and crop production is important and that the federal government should continue its involvement.
More money is needed for agricultural research, Morgan Jones said.
“Does the system need more investment? My answer would be, yes, it does, even though the federal (government) does invest more than $300 million in research.”
Meanwhile, he said there is an opportunity to enhance the agricultural effort through closer collaboration among federal, provincial and university researchers. He said, for example, informal discussions already have started on ways to build closer partnerships around prairie plant breeding programs. Agriculture Canada also is collaborating with prairie universities on livestock genetics and evaluation of health benefits from certain foods .
Those kinds of partnerships could reduce duplication of research efforts, making it possible to accomplish more with existing research dollars, Morgan Jones said.
“I think that everybody believes that partnership and working together in harmony is a lot better than trying to be competitors. There is no doubt in my mind that in the past we certainly had a competitive model. Just take the example between the federal side and the university side. We were basically competitors.
“I think a lot of that model has broken down and it’s broken down largely because the funding is insufficient to support a lot of individual structures. It’s certainly true within the federal model, within our research centres.”
