Earlier this week, the Canadian Wheat Research Coalition (CWRC), announced they’ve committed $11.8 million of funding over the next five years to the University of Saskatchewan’s Crop Development Centre (CDC). With the CWRC’s previous funding agreement with the CDC expiring this year, CWRC’s president Lori-Ann Kaminski knew that this was a deal that needed to be done.
“The Crop Development Center is well renowned for their breeding activities in wheat, and we have been funding support for the wheat breeding program at CDC for the last five years. That came to an end in December of 2024 and the agreement was made among our farmers that we would like to extend that. It takes a while to develop varieties, and we recognize the skill of those breeders there and their ability to incorporate new technology into the breeding process and so, our money is free to go to their technical staff, to materials and supplies and all the things to get the work done.”
According to their website, the CWRC is a collaboration between Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission (Sask Wheat), Alberta Grains and the Manitoba Crop Alliance with the goal of improving the net relative profitability of wheat for western Canadian producers. This partnership and commitment of funding to the CDC ensures the progression and development of technologies surrounding wheat and durum seed varieties. Kaminski knows the challenge of producing high-quality seed varieties for producers is continuous, but the CDC is up for the challenge.
“We're taking advantage of some very learned folks at the CDC and they're bringing new ways of doing things. That is part of the whole package, they're working with disease specialists who's within this project as well or this core reading agreement. They’re really looking forward to (find out) how to do things better, faster, and stack genes in a way that they’re going to survive out in the field.”
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