How Canada is Leading Agricultural Innovation

and food industry has always been innovationdriven. Building on over a century of discovery, scientists at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada continue to develop food and production methods that are good for our health, our environment, and our economy — from heart-healthy foods, to environmentally friendly livestock production, to naturalpestcontrols.

Government investments are supporting an innovative agriculture and food industry, including$70millionproposedunderBudget2017 inagriculturaldiscoveryscienceandinnovation.

Looking ahead, innovation will be a core priority in the $3-billion, five-year, federalprovincial-territorial Canadian Agricultural Partnership, set to launch in April 2018. The Partnership will support the sector in adopting innovative practices to improve agriculture resiliency and productivity.

The Canadian Agricultural Partnership is a five-year, $3-billion investment by federal, provincial, and territorial governments. Under the Partnership, the federal government will invest $1 billion in programs and activities with a focus on growing trade and expanding markets, fostering innovative and sustainable growth in the sector, and supporting a diverse and dynamic sector.

The Partnership puts a new emphasis on inclusive growth — focusing on women, youth andIndigenouscommunities. It will alsotarget building public trust in Canadian products.

As a top-five agriculture and food exporter, Canada can lead the way in sustainably meeting the world’s growing demandfor food.

Agriculture and Agri- Food Canada scientists are developing new crop varieties with built-in disease and drought resistance, and precision farming technologies, to help farmers reduce pesticide and fertilizer use. Under Budget 2017 we will also invest $25 million in clean agricultural technology.

The Canadian Agricultural Partnership will support farmers in safeguarding our environment. Canada is also active As the University of Lethbridge wraps up a hallmarkyear of 50th anniversarycelebrations, the southernAlberta university is planning for its next 50 years, a future where ag research and programming will play a major role.

As a new $280-million science and academic building takes shapeontheedgeofLethbridge’s rolling coulees, it’s positioned to be one of the most advanced facilities for science and research in Canada. The university, as part of a consortium of industry partners and other academic institutions, is vying for a slice of $950 million in funding from the federal government for the creation of “superclusters” of innovation, which are designed to encourage economic growth and job creation. Out of nine shortlisted proposals, the University of Lethbridge is an “innovation partner” in two: the Protein Innovations Canada Supercluster and the SmartAgri-food Supercluster.

According to Dr. Erasmus Okine, Vice President (Research), a major focus of the university’s transformational research is focused on increasing agricultural efficiency, reducing environmental impact, and internationally, supporting greenhouse gas reduction efforts through a $27-million program that helps farmers practice climate-smart agriculture.

NAFTA is a strong driver of growth for the North American agriculture and food industry. Since NAFTA was signed in 1994, North American agriculture and food trade has quadrupled to over $100 billion, supporting millions of good, well-paid jobs across the continent.

I just returned from a very productive trip to Mexico, and will be leaving shortly to meet with farmers in the U. S. It’s very clear from our discussions that Canada, the U. S., and Mexico, along with the agricultural industry, are united in their support of a strong and integrated agriculture and food sector across North America. We support a modernized NAFTA that will continue to be an engine of growth and prosperity for our three nations. addressing social responsibility.These goals can besummedupintwowords:“farmingsmarter.”

Okine points to research teams involved in water management and weather monitoring, using remote testing technologies, as being instrumental in mitigating the effects of climate change on agriculture. The university is also conducting ground-breaking research on the reduction of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, in livestock, and pushing the research envelope as it relates to a world food staple, the potato.

After 15 years of research, working in close collaboration with government researchers, Okine believes it’s possible to reduce methane production by roughly 30 percent through the use of food supplements. He and his team of collaborators recently received federal government funding to test this hypothesis.

In 2016, the U of L appointed Dr. Dmytro Yevtushenko as Research Chair in Potato Science,a newposition funded byaconsortium of association and industry partners. Potato farming is a $1 billion industry in Alberta — the third-largest potato producer in Canada — where warm summers and cold, diseasekilling winters are ideal for cultivating the province’s nearly 200 varieties.

“The potato industry in Alberta is healthy,” saysYevtushenko,pointing to ayouthmovement that sees the unlimited potential of agriculture as a career choice.“There are manyyoung potato farmers at a time when not many young people around the world are choosing farming as a pro-

Canadian agriculture faces a number of challenges, from shifting consumer demand to increased global competition, from climate change to non-scientific trade barriers. Ourinvestments under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership will help the sector meet these challenges, capture new growth opportunities in the global marketplace, and reach our target of $75 billion in agriculture and food exports by 2025.

In a word: innovation. Thanks to advances in science, Canadian agriculture is one of the most innovative and dynamic sectors in our economy, creating jobs, growing our middle class, and helping feed a growing world population sustainably. For example, innovation has helped Canadian beef producers practice climate-smart agriculture, reducing greenhouse emissions by 15 percent per kilo of beef. Science has also helped Canadian farmers introduce more sustainable practices such as the adoption of no-tillage systems. Innovation will continue to be at the heart of Canada’s global agricultural success. fession.Withpotatoes,I’mseeingfarmersintheir twentiesandthirties.”

A new crop of agribusiness professionals will spring from programs like the university’s new major in Agriculture Enterprise Management, which was developed in collaboration with industry stakeholders and will be delivered in partnership with Lethbridge College. The program focuses on the downstream (valueadd) rather than upstream (production) side of agriculture and promises to spawn a new stock of agri-entrepreneurs.

It will all come together when the new science and research facility opens in 2019. Designed to break down silos and seed collaboration, “it will allow our many diverse research disciplines to collide,” says Okine, “because it’s at the interface of these disciplines where knowledge is created.”

With its glass exterior and public spaces, the facility will truly be “science on display,” according to Okine. “It will allow the community to see what we’re doing and to take part in some of the activities.” Albertans could reap the harvest of the university’s investment in the future,especially if its bid for supercluster funding comes to fruition.

With 7.6 billion people to feed on the planet, Canada is assuming a lead role in global food production. The University of Lethbridge is positioning itself to help Canadians meet that global demand by farming smarter.