Research funding provided through Saskatchewan’s Agriculture Development Fund will continue to be about $7 million this year, despite troubling signals that the provincial economy is beginning to cool.
Saskatchewan agriculture minister Lyle Stewart and federal agriculture minister Gerry Ritz last week announced ADF funding worth $6.9 million. The 60-40 funding arrangement will support 42 crop-related research projects: $4.1 from Saskatchewan and $2.7 million from the federal government.
The announcement was made Jan. 13 during Crop Production Week in Saskatoon, not long after premier Brad Wall suggested that Saskatchewan will rely more heavily on the agriculture sector to carry the province through potentially challenging economic times caused by declining oil prices.
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Saskatchewan’s share of the ADF funding is part of the province’s larger agriculture research budget, which has been set at $26.7 million in 2014-15.
“Investments in research have long-term benefits for the agriculture industry, leading to the increased competitiveness of our industry in the global marketplace and better returns for our producers,” Stewart said last week. “I look forward to the new tools, knowledge and technology that will result from this year’s ADF projects.”
Third-party contributions also play an important role in funding ADF projects. It’s estimated at $3.4 million in 2014-15, with almost two-thirds coming from the Western Grains Research Foundation.
The foundation announced last week that it will also provide an additional $2.2 million to other agricultural research projects.
It uses producer check-off money to leverage additional investment through provincial agricultural research funding bodies and commodity organizations and within the Growing Forward 2 funding framework.
A complete list of the ADF projects approved for funding in 2014-15 can be viewed online at bit.ly/1yBhQxr.
