Originally posted on June 16, 2026 by The Western Producer.
SWIFT CURRENT, Sask. — The long-term organic plots at the Swift Current Research and Development Centre were cultivated and re-seeded this spring after the organic program there fell victim to federal cuts.
However, organic producers are wondering why the work was done at all, considering the plots were seeded to organic wheat.
You can find all our coverage of the proposed Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada cuts here.
SaskOrganics said the work erased multi-year plot boundaries, mixed soil layers and made it impossible to conduct any soil testing to wrap up the current projects and ensure accurate, meaningful results.
The National Farmers Union said Agriculture Canada had destroyed irreplaceable assets.
The department said the plots are still organic.
“The land in question at Swift Current has not been destroyed or compromised in terms of its status as organically managed,” it said in an emailed reply to questions.
Agriculture Canada said the land was prepared using the same methods as in previous years and seeded to organic wheat as part of ongoing commitments to maintaining organic management practices.
The Conservative MP who represents Swift Current-Grasslands-Kindersley, Jeremy Patzer, asked federal agriculture minister Heath MacDonald about the cultivation and reseeding during question period.
“The minister will probably stand up and say, ‘oh, this is just the usual organics process’ and ignore the data loss,” said Patzer.
“But really this is the Liberals’ weak attempt at responding to the massive pushback from farmers and industry.”
He said organic farming is an $11 billion industry, and growing, in Canada.
MacDonald said the land is worked every year and will continue.
“Research is important in this country, Mr. Speaker; we’ve been doing it for 140 years. We have over 17 stations that will remain open and we’ll continue to grow our research in Canada,” he said.
The cuts have been universally panned since they were announced earlier this year, including at the all-party standing agriculture committee hearings. The committee’s report asked the government to reconsider and press pause on its plan.
Conservative agriculture shadow minister John Barlow told the Saskatchewan Stock Growers Association meeting in Swift Current that the government thinks other organizations will take on the work.
“It’s become quite clear that the provinces and the universities simply don’t have the resources to do that. The private sector has no interest in doing that,” he said.
Barlow said the government is moving quickly and sold off cattle at the Nappan, N.S., centre in May. These actions make it nearly impossible to reverse the decision, he added.
“I don’t know if they understood the consequences of the decisions that they made. We are trying to give the government as many offroads here as we can.”
Instead of cutting research, the government could have closed an Ontario prison farm with a budget of nearly $50 million, he said.
“That would have kept all those research farms open for a decade, perhaps 20 (years),” he said.
The SSGA said the farms are critical infrastructure for their industry.
Members voted to lobby Ottawa to have the closed centres managed by the provincial agriculture sector. They also passed a resolution to work with both the federal and provincial governments, and academic institutions, to find ways to maintain existing research infrastructure, information and data.
Rancher Neil Block said once the facilities are gone, they are gone forever. He also said industry requires the unbiased information that comes from federal research.
The government had said that the wind-down would take about a year so that research could be completed, but the NFU noted that appears to not be the case.
The organization called for an immediate independent audit to examine data integrity from the organic plots, strict adherence to organic management and a formal commitment to a multi-year supervised remediation process to address the damage done this spring.
Agriculture Canada said it used the same methods and equipment as in previous years and remains committed to organic science.
“AAFC routinely conducts soil fertility and pH testing on all research lands, including this organically managed site. Soil testing was completed prior to seeding this season. Research activities can be conducted as part of approved research projects, with results shared through reports and scientific publications,” its statement said.
The department also said because the land has been managed under low-input conditions for a long time, it is suitable for a wide range of organic research. That work will continue at other sites, it added.
“Recent adjustments to scientific capacity across locations are part of a broader effort to strengthen integrated, systems-based agronomy and multidisciplinary science, ensuring that research investments continue to deliver impactful outcomes for producers,” it said.
SaskOrganics urged producers to contact their MPs and call for full restoration of the program.
