The Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS) compared cuts made at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) to "eating the goose that lays the golden eggs."
APAS also called it the federal government "trading long-term benefits for a short-term rounding error in budget savings."
This after AAFC reduce staff by 665 positions and is closing seven research sites, including the Scott and Indian Head locations.
President Bill Prybylski believes the cuts were made in the wrong area.
"There should have been more emphasis and more investment in research. That's what's going to get us through the next decade. If our goal is to portray Canada and to put Canada on the map as being a leader in agriculture, cutting research is not going to accomplish that, and it will likely be the opposite. We are going to be lagging behind other countries that are making those investments in the research. So, I'm very much concerned that this is the wrong decision at the wrong time."
Prybylski says the trimming at AAFC appears to contradict their core mission to "drive innovation" and "create conditions for long-term profitability."
"I think everybody agreed there was going to be cuts, but the fact that these cuts were just kind of announced without any consultation or forewarning, it was a surprise to many people."
On the research farms, Prybylski says their work is valuable to the farming community. He cited one local example of how research benefited his farm in the Willowbrook area.
"I would say this past year in our area, we had less than three inches of rain and yet we had record yields. So, that should not have happened. The only reason it's happened is because of the research that's resulted in better crop varieties, better seeding technology, better and more efficient use of available resources, and adaptation to climate changes. All those types of things that have been a result of the work done at these research stations that there's going to be a huge void there going forward."
Prybylski hopes the void left by AAFC can be filled by others.
"We're hoping that there's a plan to move some of those to other facilities, whether that's private facilities or universities or the other research stations that are still open. Maybe there's just a realignment of where those research dollars are going and where the research is actually taking place. That is our hope that there is a plan."
While APAS is hoping for a reversal of the cuts, they're calling on the federal government to release an impact assessment, outlining how its going to achieve its goals in light of the cuts, transparency on how the reduction in research will affect farmers, and how the government intends to safeguard long-term growth of Canadian agriculture.
