Canola industry gets $9-M boost

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/11/2023 (721 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Just about everything about canola, from its development at the University of Manitoba about 50 years ago to the economic heft it now wields, is a good news story.

But researchers, growers, processors and academia don’t want to rest on their laurels.

A $9-million boost from the federal government this week replenishes a continuum of research investment that has served the canola industry well for more than a couple of decades.

It will be the fourth iteration of the AgriScience Program–Clusters Component, an initiative under the federal government’s Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership, with the Canola Council of Canada collaborating with industry and academic partners to identify 17 research projects to be funded.

It’s expected that the $9 million will be leveraged to generate $17 million worth of research projects over the next five years.

Lawrence MacAulay, the federal minister of agriculture and agri-food, announced the funding Tuesday at the U of M’s Bruce D. Campbell Farm and Food Discovery Centre south of St. Adolphe.

Generating $30 billion of economic activity, canola is the number one source of farm crop revenue and the second largest crop in Canada by acres.

There may be other commodity groups or some other industry sectors that can lay claim to great industry collaboration, but likely none are better than the canola industrial complex.

Curtis Rempel the Canadian Canola Council’s (CCC) vice-president, crop production and innovation said the industry has great appreciation for Agri-Food Canada’s approach to the cluster.

“All parts of the value chain has input as to where the funding will make the most difference,” said Rempel.

The CCC conducts a comprehensive consultation process with growers, public and private sector researchers, universities and industry to identify gaps and opportunities for canola innovation before they select research to be funded.

Martin Scanlon, dean of the faculty of agricultural and food sciences at the U of M said canola research runs through the entirety of the university’s agriculture faculty, from soil, breeding pathology, crushing and animal science. The U of M also does canola research in food and human nutritional science, bio-system engineering and the nutritional value of canola co-products like meal.

“Essentially it is a crop that almost every researcher is touching on,” said Scanlon.

Mario Tenuta, senior industrial research chair in 4R nutrient management and professor of soil ecology at the U of M, will receive funding from the canola cluster program to identify ways to improve 4R precision farming management for canola growers. (4R stands for: right source, right rate, right time, and right place of fertilizer use.)

Tenuta, who said this funding source has been invaluable over the years and believes this year’s emphasis on taking on climate change and increasing carbon storage in soils and reducing greenhouse gas emissions such as nitrous oxide, bodes well for the canola sector, not the least because canola growers depend on nitrogen fertilizer.

“Canola is the biggest crop in the Prairies and a very profitable one”, said Tenuta. “It is a crop that requires nitrogen management. It is costly and growers want to know the most efficient way to use nitrogen fertilizer.”

In addition to Tenuta’s research, which will hopefully show how more precision 4R nutrient management practices will increase yield and profitability while reducing nitrous oxide emissions and sequestering more carbon, the 17 projects cover the entire canola value chain, including genetics, crop production, processing and export. Among other things, the research projects will hope to:

• Expand understanding of how canola can mitigate climate change;

• Expand efforts in developing genetic resistance against key canola pathogens and pests;

• Strengthen economic advantages for the grower through yield improvements, optimizing inputs, and reduced risk from pests, pathogens and environmental changes; and

• Enhance understanding of canola meal’s impact on reducing emissions in dairy production and its nutritional value in aquaculture markets.

Tenuta is encouraged about the future of the crop’s importance in the Canadian agriculture industry because of the level of collaboration that has existed for some time.

“In my own research project I’m working with a company called CropPro Consulting, the CCC, the U of M, the University of Saskatchewan and growers,” he said.

“That’s fairly typical of this funding program where you have collaboration between the private sector, farmers, commodity associations and researchers.”

Charles Fossay, a canola grower from Starbuck and chair of Manitoba Canola Grower’s research committee, said “This research will help us confront recent production challenges, increase yields and further canola’s contribution as a climate solutions provider.”

Rempel said, “There is unanimity between industry, growers and academia.”

He said that includes the kind of research that is being done and especially the desired outcomes — to improve profit, improve yields and improve the environmental footprint.

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca