The future of the Scott and Indian Head Research Farms remain uncertain, according to the union representing 32 employees who work there
Earlier this month, Federal Agriculture Minister Heath McDonald and Saskatchewan Agriculture Minister David Marit signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the aim of maintaining operations at both research farms, which have both been around for more than a century.
Scott and Indian Head are two of seven agricultural research facilities slated for closure in a cost-cutting move by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC).
During a July 17 news conference following the annual meetings of Federal-Provincial-Territorial Agriculture Ministers in Halifax, Nova Scotia, McDonald said they are going "to do more streamlined science" through collaboration with industry, academia, governments, and other key stakeholders.
Marit hopes a firm deal can be reached with the federal government by the end of the year.
Milton Dyck, the president of the Agriculture Union under the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), said employees were given a memo July 20, only a few days after the MOU was signed.
The Agriculture Union quotes the memo in a news release on its website: "AAFC is continuing the required disposal process at Scott and Indian Head. The agreement allows AAFC and the province of Saskatchewan to explore temporary arrangements that support agricultural activities while that process moves forward. The MOU does not affect workforce adjustment decisions and AAFC will continue with the planned relocation and wind-down of research activities at Scott and Indian Head that are already underway."
Dyck said the "workforce adjustments" made to date include "about a third" of employees already gone and the remainder to leave over the next few months to a year depending on their job "as they help shut down the station."
The union said members who worked at the sites were grounds and machinery maintenance crews, research technicians, field workers and administrators.
Dyck says there are "positive feelings" around the MOU but to his knowledge, "there's no real plan that has been promoted."
"Research takes more than just bodies and people and a place. If you're taking over a program, you're going to have to design a research program. You're going to have to build a research program. You're going to have to fund a research program. It's not just about getting buildings and hiring a few people. So it's a bigger process that what I see with this memorandum." he said.
Back in May, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture released a study that recommended the federal government "pause and reverse the decision to close agricultural research centres and experimental farm sites."
Dyck hopes the federal government will reconsider but there are no signs of that occurring.
"They're wrecking as much as they can before it gets a chance to have a look at that report again."
The Agriculture Union says the farms at Indian Head and Scott conduct valuable research.
Dyck will be monitoring the discussions between Ottawa and Saskatchewan in the coming months to see if anything concrete comes out of the MOU.
(With files from Neil Billinger, CJWW)
