Grant: Extend Innovation Enhancement Grants

Lakeland College aims to be a leader in research collaboration that drives innovation and excellence in commercial agriculture and student learning. Lakeland is well positioned in an intensive crop and livestock production region of Alberta and our research goals are to produce results of value to western Canadian producers and the agriculture value chain, while responsibly managing natural resources. The recently completed NSERC Innovation Enhancement Build program, "Enhancing Commercial Agricultural Productivity and Building the Rural Bioeconomy," supported the development of a strong research team including scientists, faculty and students as well as the development of a comprehensive base of agricultural research projects through strong relationships with 24 industry partners from 2013-2019. Partners included small and medium-sized enterprises, multinational companies, industry associations and producers, with the goal of improving agricultural productivity, profitability, efficiency and sustainability. The IE Extend proposal, "Enhancing Commercial Agricultural Productivity, Efficiency and Sustainability (2020-2023)," will build on this strong foundation of crop and livestock research and partnerships. Research will concentrate on supporting commercial agriculture for major crops (wheat, canola, field pea, barley, and oat), commercial and purebred beef, dairy, and sheep activities that are prevalent in the region. Addition of scientific and technical expertise in broadleaf (pulse and oilseed) agronomy and management as well as in livestock feed efficiency, supplementation, reproductive technologies and genomics will expand our research scope to meet the clear demand that exists. The project will address the innovation opportunity for development, implementation, validation, knowledge translation and commercialization of agricultural technologies that will enhance regional productivity and sustainability. Through alignment of the research with regional needs and dissemination of results to agricultural producers and industry, Lakeland will ensure that net research outcomes reflect the primary goal of sustainably increasing agricultural productivity in our region, in Alberta and in Canada.