Today Federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz and Saskatchewan Agriculture Minister Lyle Stewart committed $10 million in funding under Growing Forward 2 for a new Livestock and Forage Centre of Excellence at the University of Saskatchewan.
The University of Saskatchewan has committed an additional $7 million for construction costs in addition to providing land. The Saskatchewan Cattlemen’s Association (SCA) is also contributing $1 million to the project.
The new centre will serve as a unique research, teaching, outreach and industry training hub that unites agriculture and veterinary researchers, producers, industry, governments and academia.
Quick Facts
- The Centre of Excellence will integrate and expand on the many existing strengths in University of Saskatchewan veterinary and agricultural sciences, the Western Beef Development Centre, government and industry. It will be based in two locations: a new Beef Cattle Research and Teaching Unit near Clavet, and the Forage and Cow-calf Research and Teaching Unit at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine’s existing research farm near Floral, east of Saskatoon.
- The Centre of Excellence will incorporate and build on the collaborative work of University of Saskatchewan and government researchers in areas such as herd health, animal welfare, disease prevention, nutrition, management, public health, environmental stewardship, food safety and security, forage utilization, breeding and development.
- The Centre of Excellence will integrate resources and undertake relevant livestock and forage research, provide hands-on training opportunities for agriculture and veterinary students and transfer knowledge from researchers to farmers, ranchers, processors and exporters. This will benefit both consumers and the Canadian economy.
- Growing Forward 2 is a cost-shared partnership between federal, provincial and territorial governments designed to support an innovative, competitive and profitable Canadian agriculture and agri-food sector.
Source : AAFC