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Edmonton, Alberta — Currently, the best way to find out whether or not a potato is good to go to market is basic and old-fashioned – cut it open and look to see if there are defects. The process is time-consuming and destructive, taking good potatoes off the production line for random testing. A new research project at Lethbridge College aims to use cutting-edge near-infrared (NIR) hyperspectral imaging technology to test potato quality more quickly in a way that doesn’t destroy good product.

Edmonton, Alberta – RDAR and Genome Alberta, with the Government of Canada and Alberta Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Economic Development, today announced $5.1 million in funding through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership (CAP) for agriculture genomics projects. This investment is leveraged 2.5 times with other non-government funding for a total investment of $12.1 million.

Edmonton, Alberta – Traditionally, potato producers use the late fall – a time when their other crops require less attention – to prep their potato beds for the following spring. The long-established process has its benefits, but also creates concerns, including loss of soil fertility, crop nutrient availability and an increase in greenhouse gas emissions.

Edmonton, AB – A growing research partnership between Lethbridge College and Southern Irrigation will provide valuable insight that could help producers maximize their crop production. The college and Southern Irrigation are studying the opportunities created by subsurface drip fertigation (SDF), a method that applies water and fertilizer directly to the rootzones of plants through a series of pipes.

Edmonton, Alberta – The three Prairie, provincial canola grower associations have evaluated and selected 14 new canola research projects to receive funding under the Canola Agronomic Research Program (CARP) in 2022. This investment includes over $1.6 million from Alberta Canola, SaskCanola and Manitoba Canola Growers, as well as matching funds of over $1 million from the Western Grains Research Foundation (WGRF) and $450,000 contributed from Results Driven Agricultural Research (RDAR). The total investment into 2022 CARP projects is over $3.2 million.

Edmonton, Alberta – The Pasture Rejuvenation Project (PRP) collaborative team is very excited to have been awarded $601,413 in total funding that will provide producers with low-cost methods to improve hay and pasture longevity, as well as improve overall soil health.

Edmonton, Alberta — RDAR (Results Driven Agriculture Research) has invested $432,000 in a transdisciplinary research project to study Invasive wild pigs and the potential spread of infectious diseases across Alberta. The expansive research team, led by University of Calgary Veterinary Medicine professor Dr. Matthieu Pruvot, includes researchers from Alberta Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Economic Development (AFRED), the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), and industry partners from Alberta Pork and Alberta Beef Producers.

Edmonton, Alberta – Human and animal health are interdependent and intrinsically linked to the health of the ecosystem we share. As pollinators, bees contribute to the health and vitality of many agricultural crop ecosystems that feed us all.

Edmonton, Alberta – On February 22, 2022, Canada’s Agriculture Day, Federal Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Hon. Marie-Claude Bibeau announced a new $185M Fund – the Agricultural Climate Solutions On-Farm Climate Action Fund (OFCAF). 

Edmonton, Alberta — Alberta will soon have a new, high-capacity pulse processing (fractionation) plant. The More Than Protein Ingredients plant located near Bowden, Alberta is under construction at the cost of $100 million, and will power Alberta to become a leading processor and refiner of pulse-crop products. The Bowden facility will be operational in 2023 and will employ over 100 people.