Canadian Organic Growers and Organic Federation of Canada Express Concern
January 28th, 2025 — Canadian Organic Growers and the Organic Federation of Canada are alarmed by Agriculture and Agri Food Canada’s (AAFC) decision to eliminate researchers and staff, close research facilities, and wind down key research programs working towards new food safety, security, and production growth innovations.
In addition to the closure of research sites across the country, the planned closure of the Organic and Regenerative Research Program at the Swift Current Research and Development Centre – one of the only public programs dedicated to organic and low input agricultural systems on the Prairies – is a major setback. For 19 years, the program has delivered vital, practical research on soil health, diversified crop rotations, tillage and weed management, cover crops, intercropping, pest and disease control, greenhouse gas emissions, and farmer bred and heritage crop varieties. Its work has supported local jobs and innovation across the Prairies, including well beyond the organic sector, and is more important than ever in a period of persistent drought in the region.
Many AAFC researchers leading projects across Canada are being reallocated or losing their jobs, creating significant uncertainty about the future of their work. In many cases, multi-year trials are already underway, so abandoning research mid-cycle will squander public investment and undermine years of scientific effort, while limiting the environmental and economic benefits organic research delivers.
Closing research sites reduces Canada’s network of region-specific, applied agricultural research and dissemination centres – slowing innovation, weakening competitiveness, and undermining farm resilience at a time of escalating climate and trade pressures. Research on agroecosystem resilience is essential infrastructure for food sovereignty and market growth; cutting frontline capacity now will cost far more in the long term.
“Public research is especially important to the organic sector, which does not have industry-funded mechanisms to replace lost public research capacity,” said Nicole Boudreau, Executive Director of the Organic Federation of Canada. “We are also concerned about the impact these cuts will have on public plant breeding, which could threaten the development of region-specific, low-input, and climate-resilient crop varieties.”
“Efficiency does not come from dismantling the very programs designed to help farmers do more with less,” said Karen Murchison, Executive Director of Canadian Organic Growers. “At a moment of strong organic demand in Canada and globally, we need more – not less – public research to ensure Canadian farmers can succeed at home and as exporters.”
We urge the Minister of Agriculture and Agri Food to halt these closures, preserve and protect ongoing research – including the projects of the Organic Science Cluster 4 – and reinvest in public research and extension.
Canada cannot afford to lose the public research needed to sustain a productive, resilient, and secure food system. Defunding frontline agricultural research undermines competitiveness, growth and diversification – and directly contradicts Canada’s goals for food security and sovereignty at a critical moment.
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