Teams up with research foundation | Parkland College first regional college in Sask. to undertake applied research program
Parkland College is the first regional college in Saskatchewan to undertake an applied research program.
“It’s a bold new step for regional colleges in Saskatchewan, and especially for Parkland, so we’re really happy to have the opportunity to do it,” said Gwen Machnee, Parkland’s co-ordinator for university and applied research.
“Agriculture was one of the most obvious because it’s such a large industry in Saskatchewan and also in our region.”
The 40-year-old college’s five campus locations include Canora, Esterhazy, Fort Qu’Appelle, Melville and Yorkton. Training centres are in Kamsack and Yorkton.
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Parkland College is working with East Central Research Foundation in Canora, Sask., to jointly pursue new agricultural applied research projects near Yorkton.
“(It’s) a match made in heaven,” Machnee said.
“It seemed like a really perfect match because we have some of the scientists available and we have students in programs who will be looking for work experience and summer jobs. ECRF have contacts with industry for rustling up research projects.”
Several activities are already underway.
The City of Yorkton is providing a five-year lease on a quarter section of farmland close to the city. The site will provide space for applied research projects operated by the college and ECRF. It will also be used for hands-on instruction through the college’s 42-week agriculture crop production program, which began in February.
The ECRF is a non-profit organization established in 1996 on land just west of Canora. It undertakes applied research projects and demonstrates specialized crop protection technologies to local producers.
Canora is about 50 kilometres north of Yorkton.
Under the agreement, ECRF will hire a farm technician while the college will employ summer students or work experience students. College instructors Michael Hall and Sarah Lipoth will be the scientists involved in the new projects.
Machnee said this year’s $150,000 budget is small because it’s already late in the season.
“We’ve been planning this since December, but we don’t have a lot of time to get everything in place for the crop season,” she said.
“We don’t have the equipment. That’s why the partnership with East Central works so well because East Central has all the plot seeding equipment… We’ve got the land, they’ve got the equipment. We certainly couldn’t afford to farm if we had to purchase the equipment.”
Government funding allows the ECRF to conduct trials on topics as varied as seed treatments, crop residues, fertilizer application rates and weed and pest control.
Machnee said there will be a lot of plot work similar to research foundations around the province.
Only one-third of the land will be used for plots. The rest will consist of regular cropland, which may be harvested and sold, depending on the arrangement with the companies involved.
The ECRF is one of eight producer-directed research and demonstration sites in Saskatchewan that make up the Agriculture–Applied Research Management (Agri-ARM) network.
Machnee said the college has also applied for an applied research development grant.
“If we get that, that will be the first National Science Research Council grant that has been given to a regional college in Saskatchewan,” she said.
