A total of $9.6-million in funding will help the Canadian National Barley Cluster make barley a more competitive and resilient crop.

$5.2-million of the funding comes from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Ssutainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership (Sustainable CAP) and the remaining $4.4-million from several farm groups, including SaskBarley, Alberta Grains, Beef Cattle Research Council, Brewing and Malting Barley Research Institute, Canadian Field Crop Research Alliance, CBS Bio Platforms, Manitoba Crop Alliance, and Western Grains Research Foundation.

President of the Canadian Barley Research Coalition Jill McDonald says it continues previous work from a prior cluster that ran from 2018 to last year. The funding will go towards research projects “research projects focused on advancing feed barley, barley genetics, agronomy, disease resistance, and sustainability – essential priorities for all stakeholders in the Canadian barley value chain”, according to a news release from the Saskatchewan Barley Development Commission.

The Chair of SaskBarley Cody Glenn, who also farms in the Climax area, expressed gratitude for the support given by the groups and federal government in the news release: “Barley is such an important crop for farmers to include in their rotations and has important end uses in Canada and beyond, so this research will go a long way towards ensuring barley remains a profitable crop option.”