Recently announced Agriculture Development Fund (ADF) bolsters WCVM-based research projects. University of Saskatchewan (USask) researchers who are also part of the Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM) faculty have received over $1.75 million in financial support from Saskatchewan’s Agriculture Development Fund (ADF) for livestock-focused research projects in 2024.
The research grants are part of a $6.85-million ADF funding commitment announced by Lawrence MacAuley, Canada’s Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, and Saskatchewan Agriculture Minister David Marit recently. The national and provincial research funding will support 30 livestock and forage research projects in Saskatchewan and Western Canada, supplemented by an additional $478,597 from five industry partners.
The University of Saskatchewan’s (USask) overall share of the provincial funding is more than $6.2 million — including over $1.7 million in research grants for USask scientists based at Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO), Prairie Diagnostic Services, Inc. (PDS) and Prairie Swine Centre (PSC).
The Saskatchewan ADF is supported through the Sustainable Canadian Agriculture Partnership (CAP), an investment of $3.5 billion over five years from federal, provincial and territorial governments with the goal of supporting the agri-food and agri-product sectors across Canada.
Two of which are Swine VIDO-based research projects.
Both under Principal investigator: Dr. Heather Wilson, VIDO research scientist, and adjunct professor, WCVM Department of Veterinary Microbiology, each receiving ADV funding of $300,000
Project: Bioengineered yeast to provide antimicrobial peptides and functional amino acids to preserve and improve gut health in piglets.
Project: Oral vaccine for pigs against PRRSV and PEDV. •