The federal and Saskatchewan governments have announced a total of $9.4 million in funding for crop-related research, in addition to $5.4 million in co-funding from industry partners for a combined total of $14.8 million in 2025.

Industry partners include the following groups:

• Alberta Grains;
• Alberta Pulse Growers;
• Manitoba Crop Alliance;
• Mustard 21 Canada;
• Saskatchewan Barley Development Commission;
• Saskatchewan Forage Seed Development Commission;
• Saskatchewan Oilseeds Development Commission;
• Saskatchewan Pulse Growers;
• Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission; and
• Western Grains Research Foundation.

“The continued support from federal and provincial governments of the ADF is greatly appreciated,” Sask Wheat Board Chair Jake Leguee said in a news release. “The funding supports Sask Wheat’s research priorities in areas such as disease and insect pressures, weed management, fertilizer management, germplasm and trait development, and more. These investments will work to address growers’ top concerns and work to improve profitability and competitiveness.”

The funding, through Saskatchewan’s Agriculture Development Fund (ADF) under the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership (Sustainable CAP), will support 53 approved research projects such as “mapping soil carbon sequestration in Saskatchewan cropland, examining alternative genetic mechanisms for resistance to the wheat stem sawfly, and studying the effects of a pea-based beverage on bone health to prevent osteoporosis and bone fracture.”

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada has 17 of its projects approved, totalling $3.25 million in funding, while the University of Saskatchewan has 23 project approved with $4.17 million in funding. The Canadian Grain Commission, Biorimor Biosciences Inc., GS Dunn, Insight Plant Health Corp, Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute (PAMI), Royal Saskatchewan Museum, Saskatchewan Food Industry Development Centre, the University of Manitoba, and University of Regina each have one project approved with various amounts of funding; and the National Research Council of Canada has four projects approved with $765 thousand in funding to cover those projects.

Of the 53 projects, 16 cover cereal crops, 15 for pulses, 10 for other crops, six for oilseeds, three related to the environment, two for forages, and one for vegetables.

The announcement was made Wednesday at the Saskatchewan Crops Forum in Saskatoon. Saskatchewan Agriculture Minister Daryl Harrison was at the announcement.

“I think research & development is just incredibly important,” says Harrison, “there’s some great young minds and old minds working out there to come up with some new ideas and develop all that farmer ingenuity that comes to the lab and beyond.”

Harrison says the research will benefit all Saskatchewan farmers.

“Our farmers (and) producers, they look forward to the new and exciting technologies and crop varieties. They’re eager to try new things — farmers have never been shy on expanding their operations.”

“By investing in research, we’re investing in the future of the country’s agriculture industry,” Federal Ag Minister MacAulay said in the same news release. “This funding will provide research organizations the dollars they need to investigate solutions to production issues and to develop new opportunities for our crops sector, which in turn helps farmers compete globally and boost their bottom lines.”

This investment, the province says, is part of Saskatchewan’s 2024-25 budget of $37 million for agriculture research.

A full list of approved projects can be found on the Government of Saskatchewan website, under Agriculture Development Fund.