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Ottawa Is Shutting Down Seven Agriculture Labs. Farmers Will Pay the Price
The cuts, which include 665 jobs and almost $350 million in spending, are being called “really dumb”
My grandmother used to tell a rolling personal anecdote about the dirty thirties, the principal beats of which were scarlet fever, grasshoppers, dust storms, and wheat crops full of rust, the fungal disease that wrought destruction on cereal crops across North America in the early half of the twentieth century. Her point was always to drive home the many scientific and agricultural improvements that had accrued over the course of her life. Disease-resistant strains of wheat, shelterbelt programs, canola seed, winter-hardy forage varieties, precision guidance technologies, and many other innovations originated from or were supported by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), the federal department focused on protecting, regulating, and improving Canadian agriculture.
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada is cutting 665 positions and almost $350 million in research and development spending
Experts warn these cuts are short sighted and could lead to disastrous consequences for the Canadian agriculture industry
A small divesture from agricultural risk management programs into research could increase productivity and growth by $2–3 billion per year
Last year, it was announced that, like the majority of national agencies, the AAFC would be subject to comprehensive cuts of 15 percent. Earlier this year, it was revealed that much of that pruning, including 665 positions and almost $350 million in spending, would focus on the research and development sector. Over the coming months, seven sites are set to close: three research and development centres in Guelph, Ontario, in Lacombe, Alberta, and in Quebec City, as well as four satellite research farms at Nappan, Nova Scotia, Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, and Scott and Indian Head, Saskatchewan. These closures will encompass a wide range of research programs, including food safety and food-borne pathogen control, soil-moisture conservation and drought research, and beef cattle genetics and breeding, in addition to the Organic and........