The Federal and Manitoba governments have thrown their weight behind development of a facility touted to become Canada’s pre-eminent resource for field crop research.
“A great deal of our agriculture industry’s success comes from research and skill development,” said federal ag minister Marie-Claude Bibeau in a news release, Tuesday.
Bibeau and Derek Johnson, Manitoba’s minister of agriculture, and Sarah Guillemard, Manitoba’s Advanced Education and Training Minister, announced Tuesday that the two governments would provide up to $6.4 million to establish the Prairie Crops and Soils Research Facility (PCSRF) at the University of Manitoba.
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This adds to some $7.7 million from agriculture groups and companies such as Nutrien Ag Solutions, the McCain Foundation and the Manitoba Canola Growers Association, the University of Manitoba said July 5 on its website.
Thanks to the cash, “UM scientists will be able to accelerate soil and crop research far beyond what is currently possible,” the university added.
The current facility at the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences at the University of Manitoba is nearing the end of its lifespan, the government news release said. This new facility will expand and modernize agronomic research and training.
The PCSRF will improve the quantity, quality, and efficiency of seed, soil, and plant sample processing, analysis and archiving, and will integrate soil, crop, entomology, livestock, and engineering research.
“This is a significant investment that will greatly enhance our capacity for research, education programs, and collaborations with producers for more sustainable crop production,” said Martin Scanlon, the university’s dean of the faculty of agricultural and food sciences, in a statement.
“The PCSRF sets the stage for our researchers to develop an integrated approach to robust agronomic systems that will benefit Western Canadian producers and consumers across Canada for years to come,” Scanlon said. “At the same time this will allow our students to become the next generation of agri-food leaders.”
The PCSRF will improve students’ ability to get hands-on experience, the University of Manitoba said on its website.
The total budget for the PCSRF is $20.7 million, the federal-provincial news release said. Manitoba Advanced Education and Training is providing funding of up to $5.9 million in capital investment over three years, and the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership (S-CAP) is providing up to $500,000.
The new facility is slated to open in June 2026.
