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WGRF share results from eight agriculture research projects
June 6, 2023 By Top Crop Manager
The Western Grains Research Foundation (WGRF) is sharing the results of the Integrated Crop Agronomy Cluster (ICAC), which includes eight research activities ranging from soil health to herbicide resistance and climate change adaptation. Other activities include coordination of crop insects and disease monitoring, assessing and managing spray drift, developing a risk model for mitigating fusarium head blight, development and management of productive, resilient and sustainable cropping.
The total value of research included under the five-year Cluster is more than $9 million, with $6.3 million coming from the Canadian Agricultural Partnership (CAP) AgriScience Cluster program, $1.6 million from WGRF and $1.1 million from our industry partners.
“This summary document showcases the projects and people that helped make ICAC so successful,” says Laura Reiter, WGRF board chair. “The process for developing this cluster began with the realization that a gap had emerged in multi-crop and systems approaches to agronomic research. The results include the development of a number of insights and tools including websites, factsheets, and risk models that will provide farmers with valuable information as they tackle widespread agronomic challenges.”
More than 75 researchers participated in ICAC, working at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), Alberta Agriculture and Forestry, Agri-Metrix, Brandon University, Farming Smarter, InnoTech Alberta, Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute (PAMI), Smoky Applied Research and Demonstration Association (SARDA), University of Alberta, University of Manitoba, University of Saskatchewan and Western Applied Research Corporation (WARC).
“A constant of WGRF is our collaborative approach to funding research,” says Wayne Thompson, WGRF executive director. “Coordination and collaboration were paramount for ICAC. This cluster provided an opportunity for a broad geographic research perspective, with collaborators and funders from across Western Canada, which was a real advantage.”
To view the full report, visit wgrf.ca/uncategorized/integrated-crop-agronomy-cluster-research-summary.
