Gerry Ritz, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board

Agriculture is the backbone of the Canadian economy and will be a strong driver of recovery. That is why our Government puts Farmers First in every decision we make to advance Canadian agriculture.

The Government of Canada is partnering with the Province of Manitoba to help farmers tap new markets, adopt new agricultural technologies and develop new production methods. The Growing Forward funding that the Agri-Food Research and Development Initiative (ARDI) administers is part of Canada’s new $1.3-billion federal-provincial-territorial framework for agriculture. Growing Forward drives new research and development initiatives that advance Canada’s agricultural competitiveness.

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Message du Ministre en Français

Rosann Wowchuk, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives

Agriculture is a key sector of Manitoba’s economy and, in many ways, the industry’s success is due to the innovative spirit of our agricultural producers and processors. The Manitoba Government, in partnership with the Government of Canada through Growing Forward, is working to encourage innovation that will keep our agricultural sector strong.

The Governments of Canada and Manitoba are partnering to invest $39 million to drive innovation for farm families. A made-in-Manitoba Innovation Fund will support projects that create and develop new methods, products and technology in order to further advance Manitoba’s edge in the agriculture sector.

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In the very near future, you may plunk down onto a city bus in some busy metropolis and discover that you just can't escape the keystone province, no matter how far you travel. You may be sitting on Manitoba-grown hemp.

A research team at the University of Manitoba is testing a prototype bus part made from natural hemp fibre and a canola-oil based resin. These renewable source materials may be less costly for manufacturers than nonrenewable petroleum-based products.

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Nazim Cicek cheerfully observes brown sludge bubbling in tiny reactors in his state-of-the-art lab. The slimy stuff is hog manure collected from lagoons at four different Manitoba barns. It's all in a day's work for the University of Manitoba biosystems engineer. Cicek, with the help of an ARDI grant, is figuring out how to adapt some of the world's most innovative waste management technologies to local conditions.

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As the tractor rolls through the field, software in the cab tracks exactly where the tractor is and releases the right amount of fertilizer in the right place in the field. This is the world of precision farming.

Technology like GPS (global positioning systems) and GIS (geographic information systems) is transforming agriculture and Manitobans are leading the way in embracing the technology. A decade ago, most farmers applied fertilizer uniformly across a field, leading to under- and over-fertilizing. Now, farmers have the ability to plug data from soil tests, aerial photos and yields into their computers and come up with maps prescribing variable application rates for different zones within the field.

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Did you know one-third of all the food we eat is somehow related to honeybee pollination? ARDI is supporting research to discover how we can protect these amazing insects from mites that threaten them. View the video (.wmv) produced for Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's
Ag in the City event held at the Forks in Winnipeg in March 2009.
 

Retailers are snapping up Yumpeez! With ARDI support, Best Cooking Pulses launched the new organic roasted split-pea snack at Festival du Voyageur in February 2009. Today, the healthy snack can be bought at stores in six provinces and one territory
 

A new tool is available to help farmers calculate the optimum nitrogen application rate for maximum economic returns. The online spreadsheet allows farmers to test different scenarios, plugging in their own yield and soil data to determine how nitrogen application may influence net returns. Program developers received support from ARDI to revisit data collected from more than 250 soil studies focused on nitrogen. Read the April 2009 Research Update.
 

Colleen Dyck took first prize at the 2009 Great Manitoba Food Fight in April for her Great Gorp energy bar. Developed at the Food Development Centre with ARDI support, the made-in-Manitoba energy bar uses ingredients such as as flax, oats and sunflower seeds grown on the family farm. The award was announced at Capturing Opportunities in Brandon in April.
 

How does a flaxseed-enriched diet affect patients with cardiovascular disease? A two-year, $1.5 million clinical research trial exploring this question got underway in October 2008. ARDI has funded a brightly coloured delivery van to bring frozen food products to study participants throughout the Winnipeg area. View the Global National News Story (.wmv).