SaskCanola Announces New Board Leadership and $1 Million for 10 Research Projects
January 12, 2023 – On Tuesday January 10, the Saskatchewan Canola Development Commission (SaskCanola) held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) at the Western Canadian Crop Production Show in Saskatoon.
After SaskCanola’s AGM, three new leadership appointments took place. The Board of Directors elected Keith Fournier (from Lone Rock) as Board Chair, Dean Roberts (from Coleville) as Vice Chair, and Margaret Rigetti (from Langbank) as Audit and Finance Committee Chair.
“I’m excited to have the opportunity to lead SaskCanola’s Board during this pivotal time in our province’s oilseed industry. A special thank you to Charlene Bradley as our outgoing chair for her dedication to Saskatchewan’s canola growers and her overall leadership in Canada’s canola industry,” said Fournier.
In addition to Charlene Bradley, SaskCanola would like to thank outgoing directors Katelyn Duncan, Bernie McClean and Lane Stockbrugger for their years of service.
Funding focuses on agronomy, pre-breeding and meal utilization
SaskCanola has committed $1,011,751 towards 10 research projects in total that were evaluated through the Saskatchewan Agriculture Development Fund (ADF) for 2022-2023, including six projects co-funded by the ADF. The fund was created to support collaborative research to help farmers and ranchers succeed. The total value of all co-funding for these 10 projects is $3,796,490.
“Along with advocacy and market development, investing in research is at the heart of what SaskCanola does. Our ongoing investment is key for Saskatchewan canola growers to address challenges in their fields and continue to be profitable. This research explores the topics of agronomy, pre-breeding traits and germplasm development, as well as canola meal utilization,” said Tracy Broughton, SaskCanola’s Executive Director.
Projects funded by SaskCanola include:
• Do we need deep banding of P in no-till systems in the Canadian Prairies? Principal investigator: Maryse Bourgault, University of Saskatchewan – $96,890
• Strategies to build sustainable P levels and optimize water use efficiencies on low P soil. Principal investigator: Gursahib Singh, Irrigation Crop Diversification Corporation – $152,231
• Evaluation of the root-associated fungus Olpidium brassicae and its interactions with Plasmodiophora brassicae. Principal investigator: Jennifer Town, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada – $41,800
• The Prairie Crop Disease Monitoring Network: fostering further network development. Principal investigator: Kelly Turkington, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada – $31,087
• Insect response to climate change and ag inputs across the Prairies. Principal investigator: Meghan Vankosky, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada – $66,313
• Functional use of core pathogenicity genes to develop mitigation strategies against blackleg of canola and FHB of wheat. Principal investigator: Hossein Borhan, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada – $79,853
• Identifying novel genetic factors contributing to durable disease resistance in canola. Principal investigator: Isobel Parkin, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada – $153,650
• Virus-induced gene silencing in hairy roots to test root pathogen resistance. Principal investigator: Chris Todd, University of Saskatchewan – $168,935
• Valorization of canola meal by developing canola meal extract as a microbial media for fermentation. Principal investigator: Bishnu Acharya, University of Saskatchewan – $115,767
• Determination of micronutrient availability resulting in improved precision formulation with canola meal in animal feeds. Principal investigator: Rex Newkirk, University of Saskatchewan – $105,225
SaskCanola is a producer-led organization, established in 1991 and supported by 20,000 levy-paying Saskatchewan canola producers. SaskCanola’s mandate is to grow producer prosperity by providing value to canola producers through research, advocacy and market development.
For more information, please contact:
Beth Ireland, Communications Coordinator
(306) 975-0262