The University of Saskatchewan opened its new $38 million Livestock and Forage Centre of Excellence (LFCE) just South of Clavet, Sask., Tuesday. The new facility has been many years in the making, and a wide range of people in the value chain and academics came together to make it a reality.
The LFCE is both a research and teaching facility that will concentrate on cow-calf production, intensive livestock production, and forage, pasture, and grazing management. Real Agriculture’s Dale Leftwich had a chance to speak with Prince Albert-area rancher and member of the Strategic Advisory Board Tim Oleksyn at the grand opening of the new facility.
Oleksyn says that the continued commitment by the Tremuende family to academic research and the cattle industry is very evident through the establishment of this facility. “You see the Tremuende family and the Scholtz family and those kids have carried on. Their understanding of having the production model accessible to the research community, and the understanding of the importance of sustainability approach and the conservation and the increased aspects of production (is key). For that family actually partnering, and supplying their home, and allowing that home to grow into this aspect of the Centre of Excellence is just unmatched.” (Story continues after video)
According to Oleksyn everyone bought into the vision,”The Saskatchewan Cattleman’s and the Stock Growers saying ‘What do you need? What can we do?’ and then you get industry behind that and the universities and the colleges. And it’s not just the colleges of ag bio and the vet college, but also of engineering and getting all engaged and saying there’s real importance for us to get involved.”
Oleksyn says the combination of research and teaching, of industry and academics, and of production and sustainability, all in the same facility make it, in many ways, a one-of-a-kind institution.
The Saskatchewan Cattlemen’s Association chair Rick Toney says the centre is an investment in the future of ranching, and the dividends will be the research to improve the profitability and sustainability of the beef sector in Saskatchewan and across the country.
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