THUNDER BAY -- The local agricultural research station is getting an extension that will allow the facility to remain open through the end of the year.
MPP Bill Mauro (Lib., Thunder Bay-Atikokan) announced on Tuesday the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation has secured about $150,000 to keep the Thunder Bay Agricultural Research Station in operation.
The agreement was scheduled to expire on March 31, which would have led to its closure.
“There were unspent funds in each of those three years. I met with the board some time ago and the board suggested that as an opportunity,” Mauro said.
“It’s going to allow them to work on longer term sustainability of the research station.”
The extension allows the research station to complete ongoing studies and trials while continuing to work on initiatives such as screening of crop varieties, evaluation of pulses, introduction of new cover crops and fertilizer management.
It’s good news for a facility that has a significant impact on local agriculture, said board of directors’ president Peter Aalbers.
Aalbers, a local dairy farmer, said the agriculture industry is becoming increasingly competitive which means farmers must always be looking for ways to increase the efficiency of their operations.
Experiments and analyses conducted by the research station have led to changes in fertilizers that are used to grow various crops.
“It’s good not only for the Thunder Bay area but province wide,” Aalbers said. “It’s beneficial because we can save costs on fertilizers, so that means more profit for us, but also higher yields and better quality.”
He added having a research station located in the region is crucial for innovations that local farmers can take advantage of.
Factors such as climate and soil composition make Northwestern Ontario growing conditions unique.
“Our data is a little different than in southern parts of Ontario,” Aalbers said. “We’re always looking for crops that can grow over the winter and then we can move on with them (in the spring),”
The station, which is located on Highway 61, was first opened in 1991 by the provincial government. It was managed by the University of Guelph from 1996 to 2002, when it was then spun off as a stand-alone station.
