"In hockey, when pressure mounts and the ice tightens, good teams don't panic. They don't dump the puck and hope someone else sorts it out. They make clean passes, keep possession, and stay in control of the play. Canadian agriculture is at one of those moments. Over the past several weeks, much of the conversation around federal cuts to agricultural research has been understandably emotional. Farmers are worried about programs, people, and places they care deeply about. That reaction is human."
"Yes, the scale and speed of recent reductions are deeply concerning. RBC's most recent report on Seeding Scale calls for a 36% increase in funding to keep pace, while we instead stare down 15% reductions. For now, we need a moment to catch our breath to preserve critical work and knowledge, but most importantly, we need to develop a research strategy that will help Canada regain lost ground, and preferably position us to win on the global stage."
Federal cuts to agricultural research have created concern among farmers worried about programs, people, and places they care about. Recent reductions are rapid and significant, with a 15% funding decline even as RBC's Seeding Scale report recommends a 36% increase to keep pace. Decades of public crop breeding through Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada produced higher yields, better disease resistance and export competitiveness, but that model was designed for a different fiscal era. Structural pressures — constrained budgets, rising research costs, and expectations for faster commercialization and responsiveness — have left the system strained. A pause to preserve critical work is needed while a new research strategy is developed to regain lost ground.
Read at Realagriculture
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