Major federal investment in dairy research another important step towards Net Zero

July 11, 2023 (Winnipeg, MB) – Dairy Farmers of Canada (DFC) welcomes today’s announcement of $7.5 million from the federal government for the important investment to the Dairy Research Cluster 4: For a sustainable dairy sector. The objective of the cluster is to foster innovation to improve the environmental, economic and social sustainability of the Canadian dairy sector.

The Dairy Research Cluster 4 builds on the success of three preceding Dairy Research Clusters, as well as on a five-year strategic vision for the dairy sector, which was collaboratively developed through extensive consultations involving a broad range of stakeholders from the dairy-related scientific community and industry.  

This $13 million public-private partnership with Lactanet, Novalait, Dairy Farmers of Canada, and the federal government, will deliver funds through the Dairy Research Cluster 4 for five years and support the industry’s goals of driving innovation and ensuring a sustainable future for the sector.

“Today’s announcement provided to the Dairy Research Cluster 4 is essential to enable strong, robust and evidenced-based research material that ultimately helps dairy farmers increase the efficiency of their farms.” said Pierre Lampron, President of Dairy Farmers of Canada. “The investment is another important step towards Dairy Net Zero and Canadian dairy farmers’ continued work on furthering a sustainable dairy sector.”

Research projects which will be conducted under this important initiative will focus on:

• GHG reduction
• Carbon sequestration
• Addressing antimicrobial use and resistance and animal health
• Genetic improvement
• Innovation and eco-efficient dairy processing
• Other areas of research and development

Investments will be made in 13 research projects to address DFC’s strategic research priorities identified in the National Dairy Research Strategy. 

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