Grainswest - Spring 2023

Spring 2023 Grains West 30 I t is a time of transformation for the Field Crop Development Centre (FCDC) in Lacombe. Owned and operated by the provincial government since its establishment in 1973, the facility is now managed by Olds College, where staff have been tasked with a reimagination of the Centre’s feed and forage barley, malting barley and triticale breeding programs. With its own Smart Farm program in an ongoing state of continual expansion, the innovative spirit of the project is reflected in the Olds College FCDC takeover. The ambition for both is to be known as agricultural centres of excellence. The seed for this change was planted when the former NDP government revised the provincial agricultural research model and brought the area under government management. The UCP subsequently reversed course and spun these functions out to educational institutions with funding to be overseen by Results Driven Agriculture Research (RDAR), which launched in spring 2020. The transfer of FCDC management was negotiated under the College’s then-president Stuart Cullum. The handover was announced in October 2020 and transition commenced in January 2021. Paul Thiel had just taken the position of thought leader in smart agriculture and was tasked to lead the FCDC transitional steering committee. The committee draws on the expertise of members from across the malting and feed value chains, including crop and livestock groups and researchers as well as brewing and malting organizations. Thiel had previously been vice- president of innovation and public affairs with Bayer CropScience Canada, and Kofi Agblor, FCDC program director since July 2021, was likewise uniquely suited to oversee the process. As former managing director of the University of Saskatchewan Crop Development Centre (CDC), Agblor was central to the development of the highly productive crop breeding facility. The reinvention of FCDC is a work in progress. While it will remain housed in its longtime Lacombe facility, which features pathology, biotechnology and quality laboratories as well as 600 acres of plot development land, its programming is the focus of change. Over FCDC’s five decades of existence, it became a leader in variety development and produced several top western Canadian barley varieties. However, progress had stalled in recent years as government priorities shifted. While its breeding work remained high calibre, it no longer steadily produced new varieties for Transformation of the Field Crop Development Centre's breeding programs is well underway. Here, a lab technician painstakingly carries out variety crossings.