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Winter
2018
Grains
West
26
Feature
BY NATALIE NOBLE • IMAGE COURTESY OF OLDS COLLEGE
Fifty-three partners agree to brandCanada as a
safe, sustainable food source
SMART AGRI-FOOD
SUPERCLUSTER
NAN EFFORT TOGROWTHE
economy and create jobs,
the Canadian government
will invest $950 million to generate
partnerships that will drive innovation
through the Innovation Superclusters
Initiative. Western Canadian agriculture
stands to benefit in a big way through the
proposed Smart Agri-food Supercluster
(SASC), shortlisted in a group of nine out
of more than 50 competing proposals in
October of last year.
“Our government’s Innovation
Superclusters Initiative has started
conversations and created solid
partnerships between government,
the private sector, academia and
communities,” said Navdeep Bains,
minister of innovation, science and
economic development. “In today’s
knowledge-based economy, this
collaboration is essential. Together,
we are building the economy of the
future, creating the jobs of today and
tomorrow, and gearing up for global
success that will benefit all Canadians.”
Government and industry are equal
investing partners over its five-year
duration. The SASC is a consortium
of industrial, academic, farmer and
government partners; its intent is to
use its funding to make Canada the
preferred global supplier of sustainable,
high-quality, safe food. The central
areas of focus are better utilization of
existing ag data, improvement of trade
opportunities and job creation. Climate
change, sustainability and nutrient
stewardship are also principal themes.
The SASC will be led by Agrium, with
Olds College acting as lead institute.
“We are very encouraged by the work
that’s been done to date and by the
level of support,” said Olds College
president Stuart Cullum. “We have a
very strong proposal.”
The college can take a leading part
in the SASC largely due to the recent
creation of its smart agriculture facility,
the Werklund Agriculture Institute. “The
institute creates great opportunity for
companies and our ag sector to work,
play, design and learn,” Cullum said,
noting students will be exposed to
cutting-edge technology while rubbing
shoulders with some of the world’s best
ag and tech companies.
The 53 SASC partners see
opportunities to enhance the ag sector
in areas such as nutrient stewardship
and sustainability, while generating
substantial economic and environmental
benefits for the sector. A collaborative
effort to create a mechanism of system-
level solutions for the challenges and
opportunities in ag is also a priority.
Bill Whitelaw, executive vice-
president of SASC partner organization
Weather Innovations (WIN) and SASC
steering committee chair, said the
supercluster process brings great
opportunity for industry stakeholders
to connect each link in the value chain.
The goal is to achieve a more efficient,
seamless and integrated movement
of the ag chain from the products and
processes that precede the deployment
of field inputs all the way to food
consumption in Canada and around the
world, he said. “It’s a way for all of us
along the agri-food chain to be better at
what we do.”
This group of companies, government
agencies and post-secondary
institutions worked to identify areas of
frustration in the industry, such as data.
“We’re drowning in data in ag, but it’s
all stuffed in silos and there’s currently
no efficient way of connecting those
data silos to each other,” said Whitelaw.
“Key goals are better data management,
better decision-making capabilities and
transparency into the data and what it’s
telling us about the way we produce
what we eat.”
In pursuit of trade opportunities, the
SASC will work to solidify Canada’s
global reputation as a logical, go-to
global ag leader. The group’s job
creation ambitions are likewise aimed
at strengthening the industry. “This
includes everything from making sure
our farms are effectively staffed—
including the right skills and talents
in the tech space—all the way up the
value chain,” said Whitelaw. “Whether
it be through formal post-secondary
university training, vocational training
or through the basic craft skills, we will
ensure the money invested has a clear
line of sight to permanent job creation.”
The SASC is also moving forward
on climate change and sustainability.
The group unanimously agrees that
doing things right on the farm is the
I