By Alice McFarlane

Agriculture Roundup for Friday March 5, 2021

Mar 5, 2021 | 10:07 AM

MELFORT, Sask. — The Global Institute for Food Security (GIFS) in Saskatoon, Sask. is setting up its own high tech agri-food research centre.

GIFS executive director Steve Webb said the $9.2 million Engineering Biology Agri-food Innovation Centre will conduct cutting-edge agriculture research.

Developing canola varieties more resistant to climate change, flavourings for the plant-based meat industry, and non-animal enzyme alternatives for the dairy industry are a sample of some of the research projects.

The $3.2 million from the Centre for Food Integrity will be used for infrastructure including robots, computers, cell culture systems, and other equipment for the centre.

Another $5 million is being sought from private and public sources.

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Much of Saskatchewan is expected to have below normal runoff this spring.

The Water Security Agency (WSA) puts Watrous, Wynyard, North Battleford, Yorkton, and Regina in the below normal category.

The Estevan, Weyburn, and Moose Jaw regions that did not get as much snow will be well-below normal.

The Prince Albert, Melfort, Saskatoon and Rosetown areas that received significant snowfall in November will be near normal.

The only area with above normal runoff is the extreme north around Uranium City, Stony Rapids, and Collins Bay where they started the winter with high moisture levels.

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Alberta’s New Democratic Party (NDP) called for an immediate public inquiry into the COVID-19 outbreak at the Olymel pork processing plant in Red Deer, Alta.

It also asked the planned reopening of the plant to be put on hold. The plant was shut down in mid-February, after an outbreak that has caused three deaths and infected over five hundred employees. The company received the green light to start a gradual reopening.

NDP leader Rachel Notley said both Olymel and the Alberta government failed in their response to the health crisis, and there should be a full-scale inquiry into how it was handled.

She said the Olymel outbreak is now the deadliest at an Alberta meat packing plant during the pandemic.

Notley is also seeking a commitment from the justice minister that he will not intervene with legislation to protect potentially negligent corporations from lawsuits launched by victims’ families.

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alice.mcfarlane@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @farmnewsNOW