Two new facilities are being built at the University of Saskatchewan’s Crop Development Centre (CDC).
The Harrington Plant Growth Facility, named after the well-known barley breeder James Harrington, and the Soil Science Field Facility will bolster important agricultural research and enhance training opportunities for students.
A portion of the Crop Science Field Lab is also being renovated to provide additional workspace for the Crop Development Centre. All the construction work will be done by July 2026, according to a USask news release.
The Growth Facility will “provide much-needed indoor growth room capacity for breeding programs” and expand “workspace capacity devoted to seed processing and storage as well as enhanced lab spaces for analyzing field samples.” The additional space will “improve efficiency and support research for many of the crop types essential to western Canadian producers.”
The Soil Science Field Facility will ” better equip USask soil scientists as they address agricultural issues related to soil health and sustainability, soil fertility and plant production, Indigenous agriculture, and environmental issues such as mitigation of climate change and its impact on agriculture.”
The total cost is $11.8 million dollars, with much of the contributions coming from producer-based organizations.
The Western Grains Research Foundation will contribute the largest share at $7-million. In addition, $2.3 million comes from the Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission, $850,000 from the Saskatchewan Barley Development Commission and $400,000 from the Saskatchewan Oilseeds Development Commission. The federal and provincial governments will contribute $1 million from the Sustainable Canadian Agriculture Partnership.
The decisions on where to invest the money is made by a board of directors consisting of 14 farmers across Western Canada, said Wayne Thompson, the Executive Director of the Western Grains Research Foundation.
“It is farmer money and its farmer-directed money by the board,” noted Thompson.
In addition to crop development, research will also focus on environmental issues, such as climate change and its impact on agriculture, said Angela Bedard-Haughn, Dean of the University of Saskatchewan College of Agriculture and Bioresources.
“It basically allows us to future-proof our agriculture systems by looking at scenarios that are coming at us,” added Bedard-Haughn.
“This funding announcement is excellent and exciting news, and we’re very proud to add our support to the group of industry partners who have come together to fund this initiative at the University of Saskatchewan and the College of Agriculture and Bioresources,” said Minister of Agriculture Daryl Harrison in a USask news release. “We appreciate the importance of innovative ideas and getting them where they need to be—into the hands of our producers and value-added businesses to help them stay positioned as global leaders in the industry.”
“SaskBarley is proud to support one of the most successful barley breeding programs in Canada,” said Cody Glenn, Chair of SaskBarley in a separate news release. “The Crop Development Centre’s barley varieties continue to dominate Canadian acres across both malt and feed categories. This investment will bolster barley breeding and help ensure that Saskatchewan farmers have continued access to world-class genetics and innovations.”
“The University of Saskatchewan’s Crop Development Centre is home to some of the best researchers and breeders in the world. This directed funding for a chair position is an investment by wheat growers into our future to develop improved wheat varieties for Saskatchewan,” said Jake Leguee, board chair with Sask Wheat.
(With files from Neil Billinger, CJWW)
