Challenges in finding research dollars can affect not only how researchers do their jobs but impact the number of innovations farmers have access to.
For nearly a quarter-century, Brian Beres led a winter wheat agronomy project at the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) Lethbridge facility. This year he found out that the project would no longer be funded.
It was a shock, and he took to social media to let his followers know about the change.
“This was a big blow to us and our collaborating colleagues since our work was historically supported by stakeholders across three provinces, and winter wheat offers up many benefits in the context of climate mitigation, so it was a surprise to see it dropped from the research cluster proposal” he says.
Winter wheat agronomy, like all the other aspects of his agronomy program, relies on competitive funding processes to acquire the resources to do work that stakeholders have established as a priority. He’s been fortunate with winter wheat as it has been supported by various stakeholders, including farmers like Gary Stanford, past chair of the Alberta Wheat Commission, who consider it an essential area of work.
“However, it’s never been easy with winter wheat as it’s a bit of an orphan crop and not easy to integrate in the minds of some farmers. This reluctance has made it difficult to gain traction on sustainable acres, causing the number of acres to dip up and down a median of about a million acres or so,” Beres said.
It’s a problem that researchers in the seed and ag space know all too well, as they’re all connected and what affects one program affects everyone on the collaborating team Beres says.
“That’s why I spoke up about it on Twitter, to communicate to producer and industry stakeholders, particularly winter wheat growers, because I think there is this assumption that the knowledge pipeline for agronomy isn’t affected by this type of disruption. There was no other winter wheat agronomy research actively being pursued west of Ontario so this break in continuity is significant. We all appreciate the scarcity of industry and government research dollars, and competing priorities vying for those dollars, but this type of work will be hard to resurrect as researchers including myself move on to different crops and projects.”
The Future
As a farmer, Stanford has concerns about the future of crop breeding and agronomy, and also the funding that makes the wheels turn in the research community.
“The challenges we face with new diseases, bug problems, and wireworms are increasing, and it’s crucial that we have support from entomologists and other experts to address these issues. Wheat breeding programs need to continue to improve to keep up with these challenges, and I’m curious about what the future holds with pre-breeding and potential innovations like perennial wheat or nitrogen-fixing wheat,” he says.
“These could be game changers for our industry, and I believe farmer organizations should support and advocate for such research.”
That said, he’s worried about the recent decrease in funding for agronomy and winter wheat research. With the federal government’s goals of reducing nitrous oxide usage, he says we need to find better ways to fertilize to maximize yields. He believes it’s the responsibility of farmers to voice their concerns and engage with research funders to understand why some projects are not getting funded and where things need to go from here.
“It’s important that we hold organizations accountable and seek answers when projects or programs are not adequately funded. The future of crop breeding, including winter wheat breeding, is at stake, and we need to ensure that funding and support are available to address the challenges we face and continue improving our crops for the growing world population,” Stanford said.
Wheat breeder and geneticist Gurcharn Singh Brar started his career at the University of British Columbia in 2020. While he feels fortunate to have received support from producer groups and grower organizations that have funded his research program, he’s not immune to the challenges of accessing funding.
He and his team were recently putting together a research proposal on applied barley genomics applied for a federal funding opportunity led by Genome Canada last year.
Barley is the third largest crop in Canada in terms of acreage, but unlike some of the other major crops in the country, it has never been funded by Genome Canada. There are still knowledge gaps in the barley industry that could be filled with genomics and applied genomics research. Unlike other major crops such as wheat, lentil, and soybean, barley lacks some of the resources and funding needed for research, according to Brar.
“Nevertheless, we were hopeful that we would receive support from federal funding for our barley research program, which focuses on applied knowledge and genomics research. Unfortunately, it was disappointing to learn that our proposal was not funded, despite the strong support from our barley producer groups and industry,” he said.
“Despite this setback, we are still optimistic and confident about the research ideas we have put together, along with my fellow barley breeder colleagues and pathology colleagues across Canada. In terms of changing priorities or next steps, we recognize that some of these research ideas are aimed at filling knowledge gaps in a relatively smaller crop like barley compared to larger crops like wheat.”
As a result, the funding his work receives from producer groups may not be sufficient to fund all the research. His team is exploring other funding opportunities and looking to recycle some of their past ideas to secure additional funding.
For Stanford, it’s a challenging and uncertain time, but he believes that with proactive engagement and collaboration, the industry can navigate these challenges and secure a better future for farmers and their communities.
“Overall, I’m hopeful that we can find solutions and work towards a more resilient and sustainable agriculture industry, but it will require continued effort and advocacy from all stakeholders, including farmers, research funders, and industry organizations. Together, we can ensure that our crops are healthier, more resilient, and better suited to feed the growing world population,” Stanford said.
