Farmer Investment Into Research Pays Off

Feb 10, 2016

The Western Grains Research Foundation (WGRF) is committing to a new five-year research support agreement with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC).

WGRF will invest more than $21 million to support AAFC's western wheat and barley breeding programs until 2020.

Federal Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay was in Saskatoon for the announcement.

"It's so important that we have the collaboration between the Agriculture and Agri-Food, and the farmers, and everybody involved in the industry - so that we come up with the right programs," he said. "That's how this was established in the '90s - it's vitally important."

The money will go towards research into wheat and barley diseases; insect resistance; environmental stresses, like drought and flooding; and developing genetic markers for plant breeding selection.

Source : PortageOnline

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.