HALIFAX — Saskatchewan and Ottawa have signed a memorandum of understanding to transfer two federal research farms to the province.
The agreement comes during negotiations at the annual federal-provincial-territorial agriculture ministers’ meeting in Halifax.
Saskatchewan’s agriculture minister David Marit said the MOU signals that the research farms at Indian Head and Scott, which had been slated for closure, will remain open.
WHY IT MATTERS: Prominent research resources in Saskatchewan will now remain in research, although questions — such as how and by whom future work will be done at the sites — remain to be answered.
“We just did the right thing,” Marit said in an interview after the signing, when asked why it was important.
Both research farms have been operating for more than 100 years, and there was tremendous pushback from industry after the closures were announced earlier this year as part of federal government cost-cutting.
The MOU does not include reinstating the organic program at Swift Current.
Aside from the two Saskatchewan farms, two others at Nappan, N.S., and Portage la Prairie, Man., and three research and development centres at Guelph, Ont., Quebec City and Lacombe, Alta., were also slated for closure. It’s unknown whether other provinces are pursuing similar arrangements.
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Marit said officials will now discuss how the transition goes ahead.
“We’ll go through the details on the operational side, whether it’ll be a long-term lease on the property and that stuff … and come back,” he said.
“I’m hopeful by the end of the year we will have an agreement in place.”
The facilities will likely operate under the agriculture ministry, but Marit said he expects the commodity commissions will come to the table with some money to continue research.
The land will probably be leased long-term and fees for service implemented to generate revenue. Some equipment had already been removed and relocated at other facilities so that has to be worked out as well.