Ottawa announces funding for a Living Lab program in Manitoba

Nov 21, 2023

Federal Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay announcing another key investment this time in Manitoba's Ag Sector.

MacAulay announced $9.2 million dollars over five years for the creation of a new living lab program in Manitoba.

The living labs are a collaborative approach to agricultural innovation, bringing together farmers, scientists, and other stakeholders to co-develop and test new practices and technologies in a real-life context, so they can be adopted more quickly by Canadian farmers.

The Manitoba Association of Watersheds is taking the lead on this, Board Chair Garry Wasylowski says he's really excited about it.

"Meeting with the minister yesterday, I reiterated the fact that I liked the way the research is being done. It's out on the landscape and it's with farmers with researchers, and I really think that's an important way to do research. It's what's actually happening out there with all the variables."

He says the Watersheds will hold a meeting this week to talk about how the program will work and how producers, researchers, etc can apply.

Manitoba's announcement now means we have 14 living labs set up across the country with at least one in each province.

Source : Pembinavalley online

Video: Why Invest in Canada’s Seed Future? | On The Brink: Episode 3

Darcy Unger just invested millions to build a brand-new seed plant on his farm in Stonewall, Manitoba so when it’s time for his sons to take over, they have the tools they need to succeed.

Right now, 95% of the genetics they’ll be growing come from Canadian plant breeders.

That number matters.

When fusarium hit Western Canada in the late 90s, it was Canadian breeders who responded, because they understood Canadian conditions. That ability to react quickly to what’s happening on Canadian farms is exactly what’s at risk when breeding programs lose funding.

For farmers like Darcy, who have made generational investments based on the assumption that better genetics will keep coming, the stakes are direct and personal.

We’re on the brink of decisions that will shape our agricultural future for not only our generation, but also the ones to come.

What direction will we choose?

On The Brink is a year-long video series traveling across Canada to meet the researchers, breeders, farmers, seed companies, and policymakers shaping the future of Canadian plant breeding. Each week, a new story. Each story, a piece of the bigger picture.

Episode 3 is above. Follow Seed World Canada to catch every episode, and tell us: Do you think the next generation will have the tools they need to success when they takeover? How is the future going to look?