Canadian Western Agribition (CWA) has announced a contribution of $100,000 over the next decade to the University of Saskatchewan Livestock & Forage Center of Excellence (LFCE).

Under the funding partnership, CWA will sponsor an annual field day for producers at the new research facility in Clavet, Sask., as well as contribute to the capital campaign, the announcement said.

“The future of the livestock industry in Saskatchewan and Canada is the core of what makes Agribition successful,” CWA president Chris Lees said. “It’s important that CWA contributes to the industry and ensures producers here are benefiting from the best research and science being done anywhere in the world.”

LFCE is an innovative research facility located southeast of Saskatoon, Sask. Opened in 2018, it is the largest and most comprehensive center of its kind in Canada. It is a partnership among the University of Saskatchewan, the governments of Canada and Saskatchewan and the Canadian and Saskatchewan forage and livestock sectors, the announcement said.

“With Agribition’s financial contribution, we continue to build on our foundation of partnerships with the livestock and forage industries. Because of these partnerships, we are better positioned to fulfil our mission,” LFCE director Dr. Kris Ringwall said. “Our center of excellence is a place of discovery for new ideas and production methods that will ensure the profitability and sustainability of the livestock and forage sectors not only for today’s producers but for generations to come.”

LFCE includes a 1,500-head feedlot, a forage cow/calf facility, a livestock research unit, a production cow herd with more than 400 breeding animals and 39 quarters of land, the University of Saskatchewan said. It also features a true-to-life environment for raising livestock on the Canadian prairies.