Western Grain Research Foundation (WGRF) is planning to invest over $18 million dollars into field crop research in 2015. The WGRF Board recently passed its 2015 Budget at a Board Meeting on November 19, 2014 in Saskatoon.

“WGRF is the largest producer funder of crop research in Canada,” said Dave Sefton, WGRF Board Chair. “Crop research is vital for the development of new farm management practices and improved crop varieties. WGRF invests in research covering a variety of field crops. As producers we should be very proud of this investment because we will be the ones who benefit most from this increased commitment to research.”

WGRF has built relationships with member organizations and research funding partners across Canada with the goal to increase research investments. The 2015 WGRF research budget of $18 million is more than double the amount invested in 2013 ($7.3 Million).

“WGRF is committed to continued collaboration on agricultural research funding at both the federal and provincial levels to leverage public, private producer and private industry investments into crop research to increase the industry’s competitiveness” says Garth Patterson, WGRF Executive Director. “WGRF is currently co-funding with 30 organizations on more than 125 research projects worth over $22 million dollars,” added Patterson.  

The WGRF Board consists of 18 producer representatives from different agricultural organizations across western Canada. WGRF brings the research spending power of all farmers in Western Canada together, maximizing the returns they see in crop research.

Recent WGRF Research Funding Highlights:

• WGRF committed $5 million to the Genome Canada Large Scale Applied Research Project.
• The total value of the Systems Approach to Crop Sustainability is $4.32 M over the next 5 years; WGRF is leading this initiative and is contributing $2.16 million.
• The total value of the Wheat Cluster is $25.2 M over five years; WGRF is leading this Cluster and is contributing $9.6 million.
• The total value of the Barley Cluster is $11.2 M over five years; WGRF is contributing $1.5 million.
• Graduate Scholarships of $100,000 per year continue to be provided to U of M, U of S and U of A on a rotational basis.
• WGRF commissioned a study to evaluate agronomy research capacity in western Canada.