Heath MacDonald met with a variety of academic, research and commodity representatives following a tour of the Western College of Veterinary Medicine on Tuesday.

The focus of the combination in-person/virtual 16 person roundtable (full list of participants at the bottom of the article) was the ongoing negotiations surrounding the new Agriculture Policy Framework, which will run from April 2028 to March 2033.

“I wanted to hear and be specific about the science side of things relevant to the national policy framework,” MacDonald said. “We met with a lot of scientists, obviously, but we also met with stakeholders from other commodities as well.”

The discussions centered on improving research collaborations, reducing regulatory barriers and the commercialization of products.

After the Saskatoon meeting, the federal agriculture minister toured the K + S potash mine, about 60 kilometres northwest of Regina. He will also get a first hand look at another mega-project when attending the official grand opening ceremony of the new Cargill canola crushing plant in Regina on Wednesday. The plant has a total annual crushing capacity of approximately one-million metric tonnes.

“The opening is pretty exciting . . and is one of the reasons that I came out here. I wanted to see it . . . and support (the plant).”

MacDonald will also meet with his provincial counterpart, David Marit. The pair will discuss the Agriculture Policy Framework and efforts to maintain research at the Indian Head and Scott Research Farms, which are slated to be closed by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada as part of a government-wide cost-cutting effort.

Tracy Herbert, Executive Director, Beef Cattle Research Council;

Laura Reiter, Board Chair, Western Grains Research Foundation

Jeff Bertholet, Chair, AgWest Bio;

Karen Churchill, Chief Scientific Officer, Global Institute for Food Security

Jodi Souter, Owner & Operator, Plant Breeder, J4 Agri-Science;

Peter W.B. Phillips TBC, Chair, Genome Prairie

Andrew Van Kessel, Director of Research, Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO)

Carl Potts, Executive Director, Saskatchewan Pulse Growers

Dr. Gillian Muir, Dean, Western College of Veterinary Medicine

Virtual Participants:

Chris Anderson TBC, Board Member, Canola Council of Canada, DL Seeds;

Angela Bedard-Haughn, Dean of Agriculture and Bioresources, University of Saskatchewan;

Nazim Cicek, Dean of Agriculture and Food Sciences, University of Manitoba;

Jocelyn Velestuk, Board Chair, Canadian Wheat Research Coalition;

Dan Wright, CEO, Seeds Canada

Ian Affleck, Vice President, CropLife Canada

Sean Thompson, Research Chair- Applied Research, Olds College