Issue link: http://e-delivery.uberflip.com/i/1028354
APG's investment of $111,000 included the following projects: • Coordina on of a crop disease monitoring network for Western Canada; • Spray Dri Management Under Changing Opera onal Requirements; and • Op mizing systems produc vity, resilience and sustainability in the major Canadian ecozones. This cluster was established because Canadian farmers face agronomic challenges that cut across mul ple crops and there are gaps in mul -crop and systems approaches to agronomic research. Collabora ng research organiza ons include Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Alberta Agriculture and Forestry, Agri-Metrix, Brandon University, Farming Smarter, InnoTech Alberta, Prairie Agricultural Machinery Ins tute, Smoky Applied Research and Demonstra on Associa on, University of Alberta, University of Manitoba, University of Saskatchewan, and Western Applied Research Corpora on. Built into all the ac vi es in the cluster, is a strong knowledge transfer plan that will communicate results to producers, agronomists and scien sts enabling them to respond in a mely way to these agronomic challenges. "Coordina on and collabora on was really important in bringing this cluster together," said Garth Pa erson, Execu ve Director WGRF. "WGRF's focus on funding research, our western Canadian membership, and our mul -crop funding scope made WGRF uniquely qualified to develop and lead this first of its kind cluster. Farmers don't just grow one crop and that's why we're taking a whole-farm approach to agronomic research. We are very excited about the poten al of this cluster." In addi on to Alberta Pulse Growers, the other funders of this cluster include: The Alberta Wheat Commission, Brewing and Mal ng Barley Research Ins tute, Manitoba Canola Growers Associa on, Manitoba Pulse and Soybean Growers, Manitoba Wheat and Barley Growers Associa on, Prairie Oat Growers Associa on, Saskatchewan Canola Development Commission, Saskatchewan Pulse Growers, and Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission. P U L S E C R O P N E W S F A L L 2 0 1 8 | 1 5