Feeds innovation institute emphasizes value-added production

Source: Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food

He's only been on the job for a few months, but the executive director of the new Feeds Innovation Institute (FII) is excited by what’s happening.

Dr. Scott Wright heads the institute, based at the University of Saskatchewan. The FII evolved from the former Prairie Feed Research Centre, which had been operating at the university under the leadership of Vern Racz.

“While Vern has retired as executive director, he continues to work with us as a consulting research scientist,” said Wright. “We are fortunate to have his experience and the continuity he provides.”

According to Wright, “There has been scientific co-operation. The gap has been in connecting that to the industry priorities and to value-creation. We have a clearly expanding and growing market for enhanced livestock production in the province, as well as a demand for specialized feed products.” He sees the FII as “moving from a pure science response to a broader business and enterprise development response in the emerging markets for new feed crop technologies and processes.”

Currently, though Saskatchewan produces around 50 per cent of Canada’s grain crop, only about 10 per cent of that production is being used for domestic feed.

Wright noted, “We’re only just beginning to get a solid handle on value chain development, and how to create workable value chains that share risk-for-profit in a highly globalized market.”

He points to the tonnes of grain screenings now being used to feed livestock and the development of the new super-oat strain as just some of the evidence that feed research and development is paying off in the field.

The FII will emphasize partnerships and draw on the strength of the bio-products innovation cluster centred at the University of Saskatchewan. This cluster includes the Departments of Animal and Poultry Science, Agriculture Economics, Bioresource Engineering and the Crop Development Centre. It will also maintain close links with associated groups like the Prairie Swine Centre, Ag-West Bio Inc. and PAMI, to name a few.

In the short term, Wright says the institute’s work will “focus on creating additional value from feed in areas of the bio-economy like bio-fuels, and in satisfying demand for specialized feed products.” He also looks forward to future work on what he calls the “golden triangle:” the relationship between crops used for animal feed, crops used for food and crops used for industrial purposes.

For more information, contact:

Dr. Scott Wright, Executive Director
Feeds Innovation Institute
Phone: (306) 966-4120