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Government invests $39.3 million in Canadian field crops

Lawrence MacAulay, minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, announced a federal investment of up to $39.3 million to four science clusters including barley, wheat, diverse field crops and soybeans under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership.

January 28, 2019  By Top Crop Manager


Lawrence MacAulay, minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, announced a federal investment of up to $39.3 million to four science clusters including barley, wheat, diverse field crops and soybeans under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership. These investments include an additional $28.4 million in contributions from industry, for a total investment of $67.7 million.

These new Clusters will drive innovation and discovery in the Canadian field crops sector over the next five years:

  • The Barley Cluster ($6.3 million) aims to improve productivity in the science and technology of using barley for food and increase disease resistance. The Cluster will be led by the Barley Council of Canada.
  • The Diverse Field Crop Cluster ($13.7 million) focusses on variety development, crop protection, production agronomy and value added practices to support diverse crop growth. The Cluster will be led by Ag-West Bio Inc.
  • The Wheat Cluster ($13.9 million) aims to deliver higher-yielding wheat varieties to producers, and to develop the next generation of Fusarium Head Blight resistant varieties. The Cluster will be led by the Canadian Wheat Research Coalition.
  • The Soybean Cluster ($5.4 million) will help Canadian soybean crops become more resilient and productive, increase the geographic range for growing crops and benefit the environment. The Cluster will be led by the Canadian Field Crop Research Alliance.

The Manitoba Pulse and Soybean Growers (MPSG) issued a statement in response to the $5.4 million federal investment, which when combined with industry, represents a $8.4 million investment into 10 soybean-related research projects. MPSG is supporting four of those projects directly. “Soybeans are a Manitoba success story and a prairie success story,” said MPSG Chair John Preun before thanking the Minister for an investment that “will see soybean acres, yields and production efficiencies increase across Manitoba.”

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