Grain farmers give $200,000 to new Ridgetown crop centre

Grain Farmers of Ontario has pledged $200,000 to the University of Guelph, Ridgetown Campus for its new Crop Research and Innovation Centre. 

“Our farmer-members have always recognized the importance of understanding new innovation and evolving best practices based on science and experience,” said Brendan Byrne, chair, Grain Farmers of Ontario. “We look forward to continued collaboration with the University of Guelph’s Ridgetown Campus and we thank them for their commitment to grain excellence.”

“This tremendous show of support from Grain Farmers of Ontario exhibits their commitment to future crop research results that will help drive our local, provincial, and global agri-food economy,” said Brett Shepherd, director, Ridgetown Campus.

Dr. Rene Van Acker, Ontario Agricultural College dean, says that the much-needed infrastructure is key for the university to continue to have the capacity to conduct world-leading research that supports Ontario’s grain farmers and the agri-food sector. 

“We are so fortunate to have such supportive partners. Grain Farmers of Ontario’s support is fundamentally important to our ability to move forward with this project,” he said.

Project leads are working hard to secure provincial support for this project. With an estimated 80/20 funding model, an 80 per cent financial commitment from the province is a cornerstone, prior to project groundbreaking.

The new facility will provide a number of scientific labs equipped with the latest technology to allow scientists to raise the bar on the types of crop research projects they will be able to complete.