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New USask crop research chair receives Sask Wheat support

 The Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission (Sask Wheat) has committed $6.5 million to support the establishment of the Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission Applied Genomics and Pre-breeding Chair at the University of Saskatchewan (USask).

The new research chair will design and deploy cutting-edge technologies and strategies to assess genetic diversity for delivery into new crop varieties, with a primary focus on wheat.

“We are grateful for the Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission’s support in advancing crop research,” said Dr. Angela Bedard-Haughn (PhD), dean of the College of Agriculture and Bioresources at USask. “This new chair will bolster USask’s leadership in the development of productive, climate-smart varieties that support a sustainable food production system.”

The chair will focus on applying genomics to pre-breeding activities and bridge the gap between discovery research, exploration of gene banks, genomics and breeding. This research is necessary to connect crop wild relatives and commercial varieties. The goal is to translate gene discovery into better adapted varieties for Saskatchewan climates and agronomic pressures therefore providing producers with more rotational options to increase profitability for their operations.

“The University of Saskatchewan’s Crop Development Centre is home to some of the best researchers and breeders in the world. This directed funding for a chair position is an investment by wheat growers into our future to develop improved wheat varieties for Saskatchewan,” said Jake Leguee, board chair with Sask Wheat, a farmer-funded commission that supports public-sector research and wheat breeding in Saskatchewan and Western Canada.

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Border View Farms is a mid-sized family farm that sits on the Ohio-Michigan border. My name is Nathan. I make and edit all of the videos posted here. I farm with my dad, Mark and uncle, Phil. Our part-time employee, Brock, also helps with the filming. 1980 was our first year in Waldron where our main farm is now. Since then we have grown the operation from just a couple hundred acres to over 3,000. Watch my 500th video for a history of our farm I filmed with my dad.

I started making these videos in the fall of 2019 as a way to help show what I do on a daily basis as a farmer. Agriculture is different from any other industry and I believe the more people that are showing their small piece of agriculture, helps to build our story. We face unique challenges and stressful situations but have some of the most rewarding payoffs in the end. I get to spend everyday doing what I love, raising my kids on the farm, and trying to push our farm to be better every year. I hope that I can address questions or concerns that you might have about farms and agriculture.