News
Funding for farm-level research in Manitoba

July 14, 2016 - The Canada and Manitoba governments will invest nearly $400,000 in 10 research projects expected to provide practical, on-farm benefits to producers.

The Prairie Agriculture Machinery Institute (PAMI) is one of the funded organizations and will receive $288,400 to conduct six research projects focused on:

• hemp harvesting for use in fibre processing,
• airflow in large grain-storage bins,
• guidelines and tools for consolidating on-farm surface water,
• flax fibre harvesting,
• improving efficiency for soybean harvest, and
• comparing canola harvest methods.

“As part of our plan to support science and innovation in the agriculture sector, our government is pleased to make these investments in new production methods and farm practices,” says federal agriculture minister, Lawrence MacAulay.  “With these strategic investments, we are lending a hand to hard-working farmers in Manitoba and across Canada so they can keep their businesses on the cutting edge and create quality jobs.”

Projects are funded under Growing Forward 2’s Growing Innovation – On Farm, which evaluates and demonstrates new agricultural practices or technologies at the farm level. 

“The economic benefits our agricultural research are very impressive because the findings can be implemented by many agricultural producers in Manitoba,” says PAMI CEO, Dave Gullacher.  “Recent studies show work such as this produces $15 to $20 in benefits for every dollar invested, which is essential for our industry.  We will be developing strong funding partnerships with industry and will work closely with a great number of agricultural producers to carry out this work.”

The research must benefit individual producers, communities or the agricultural industry by increasing productivity, introducing new crops or products, refining agricultural management practices or introducing improved production techniques.

Other funded projects include:

• $50,000 to evaluate smart hive technology to improve hive health, disease surveillance and traceability (Durston Honey Farms Ltd.);
• $15,745 to study how crop harrowing can improve weed control in organic hemp production and organic transition periods (Scott Beaton);
• $20,970 to develop a test for staphylococcus aureus in raw milk (Horizon Labs Ltd.); and
• $23,900 to study nitrogen management for high-yielding wheat varieties (Manitoba Wheat and Barley Growers Association).