Research
Research Funding: Who Benefits?
by Ken Hough, OCPA Director of Research and Market Development

OCPA Research Contribution on Seed Corn Purchases
Under this initiative, partnering seed companies remit 50 cents from each bag of seed corn purchased by Ontario growers to OCPA, via a third party trustee, to support our investment in research projects. The program provides OCPA with about $160,000 for research directly benefiting Ontario corn growers, whether production or end-market oriented, and represents about 1/4 to 1/3 of OCPA’s annual funding for research projects. (Project details are provided in the July 2002, Aug/Sept 2002 and January 2003 issues of the Ontario Corn Producer.)

Areas of exploration include:
• nutrient management
• tillage
• weed management
• resistance to Fusarium/Gibberella ear moulds and mycotoxins
• management of other corn pests
• improved cold tolerance
• genetic improvement in areas not being addressed by seed companies
• feed improvement
• food corn
• new industrial uses.

Research projects funded in part through this program have the potential to generate collective benefits of more than $10 million for Ontario’s corn growers and provide them with a competitive edge in the marketplace. With typical leverage of $3 or $4 of other research funding for each OCPA dollar invested, the program allows Ontario farmers to make a significant contribution and thereby help to control their own destiny over the longer term.

Despite the clear successes achieved through the program, OCPA’s efforts to enlist the full participation of all seed companies have yet to be successful. If all companies participated in the collection of the research contribution from growers, funding derived from this source would be approximately doubled, thus allowing much more research (and many more potential benefits for Ontario’s corn growers) to be explored.

University of Guelph – OMAF Agreement
With $50.5 million contributed annually from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food (OMAF) to the University of Guelph (U. of G.), the importance of this program is clear. What may be less clear to readers, though, is how this $50.5 million is invested/utilized, and what the benefits or outcomes are.
OMAF/U. of G. contract funds are dispersed in four main areas; approximate percentages of funding dedicated to each area are given below:
• research – 55%
• education (diploma and continuing education programs, primarily at the Ridgetown, Kemptville and Alfred College locations) – 18%
• Laboratory Services Division (LSD), predominantly for testing and analytical services associated with regulatory, compliance and disease surveillance programs – 18%
• Veterinary Clinical Education Program – 9%.
Within the research allotment, the 5 primary program areas are:
• Plants - $12.2 million
• Animals - $14.5 million
• Resources Management and Environment (RME) - $3.4 million
• Food - $1.7 million
• Sustainable Rural Communities (SRC) - $0.3 million.

These figures include essential but substantial expenditures associated with support of the research programs, including research station operations (across the province) at $9.9 million, research infrastructure and support at $350 thousand, and overhead at $8 million.

From May 2001 to April 2002, 327 projects were supported through research funding provided under the University/OMAF contract. Of these, 155 were in the Animals program, 92 in the Plants program, 44 in the RME program, 25 in the Food program and 11 in the SRC program. In the 2002/03 fiscal year, the number of active projects has dropped slightly to 305.
Research funding for these programs from sources other than the OMAF/U. of G. contract increased 12% over the previous year, to $69.1 million. This is more than twice the amount from such sources only five years earlier. It includes funding from the national granting councils ($16 million, largely from NSERC, the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council), the federal government ($16.8 million), business and industry ($16.4 million), other Ontario government funds ($13.2 million; for example funds from OMAF’s competitive research programs such as Healthy Future for Ontario Agriculture or New Directions programs, and from programs of other Ministries), and charitable organizations, Networks of Centres of Excellence, other governments and private donors.

Funding from business and industry, including funds provided by OCPA and other commodity groups, increased by 6.9% to $16.4 million in 2001/02 continuing the steady upward trend of the past 5 years.

What are the benefits?
OMAF deserves recognition and credit for providing the resources for the foundation (scientists, staff and facilities) on which these other external resources can build. Without the OMAF/U. of G. foundation, funding could not be attracted from other sources and only a small portion of the overall research effort could be accomplished.

For example, of more than two dozen research projects currently supported with OCPA funding, 20 involve researchers funded in part through the OMAF/U. of G. contract (which typically funds a portion of the primary researcher’s time, technical staff and some operating dollars). Other external programs are also strengthened as a result of the foundational infrastructure that exists because of the OMAF/U. of G. contract.

Although the benefits of the U. of G./ OMAF research contract apply across the broad spectrum of agri-food sector stakeholders, Ontario’s corn industry derives specific benefits from several research areas, including:
• Reducing costs for nitrogen fertility, minimizing potential impact on water quality and reducing loss of greenhouse gases such as nitrous oxide, though N fertility research seeking to:
- evaluate the amino sugar nitrogen test’s ability to determine soil nitrogen status and corn nitrogen requirements for a variety of locations in southern Ontario
- improve calibration of pre-sidedress N test for use following manure applications
- evaluate the resin-core method as a routine test of measuring N mineralization in the field, especially following manure application, under different durations and periods of the year
- determine the effect of slope position on manure mineralization as estimated by the resin-core method
- create a comprehensive database compiling corn nitrogen management research data from the past 40 years (and input new data on an ongoing basis), improve N fertility interpretive models and improve accuracy of N fertility recommendations for improved profitability and reduced environmental impact
- evaluate reliability of corn canopy reflectance and chlorophyll measurement as indicators to quantify corn nitrogen nutritive needs and spatial N variability and determine the usefulness of these crop-based N indicators during early crop growth to predict N fertility needs
- determine if soil and site characteristics responsible for the seasonal patterns observed in crop yields can be used to determine the crop response to fertilizer N and evaluate the usefulness of field-based N response strips to determine the most economic rate of N application on a field basis and the potential benefit of site-specific N application
- determine whether spatial distribution of OC can be used to predict potential N availability and crop productivity
- evaluate implementation of site specific N management using low cost and low technology approaches to identifying N management units, in both N fertilizer and manure-based management systems.
• Improving weed control efficacy and profitability, while reducing environmental impact, by supporting research to:
- determine the effect of reduced herbicide rates on weed control and yield of corn and soybeans
- compare efficacy of common broadleaf and grass herbicides under field conditions using flat fan, turbo and air-induction nozzles
- determine if reducing nitrogen fertilizer application will reduce effectiveness of post-emergent herbicide
- determine the agronomic and economic benefits of atrazine for weed control in corn, as well as alternative non-triazine herbicide options
- identify three-way herbicide mixtures that will provide additive or synergistic action when applied at below normal use rates
- assess new and existing herbicides for, and develop weed management programs for control of new/exotic weeds in corn, soybeans and wheat
- determine the emergence pattern of waterhemp, competitiveness and seed production in corn and soybeans under Ontario climatic and agronomic conditions and determine efficacious control methods.
• Enhancing productivity and quality of grain corn, by developing:
- molecular markers and larger scale marker selection techniques for use in selection and breeding of corn with increased Fusarium/Gibberella Ear Mould resistance and reduced mycotoxins occurrence
- genetic maps for aiding selection of major leaf diseases in corn in Canada
- methods to assess tolerance of corn hybrids/inbreds to chilling during grain filling, and map genes related to cold tolerance in Ontario-adapted germplasm
- management strategies for European Chafer in corn, the ‘soybean-adapted’ Western Corn Rootworm, a potential pest in Ontario, and sporadic, but significant pests such as common armyworm, black cutworm, European corn borer.
• Developing new and expanded end-uses for corn, by seeking to:
- develop synthetic catalysts for chemical conversion of agricultural products such as corn starch, corn sugar or corn stalks into valuable biochemical building blocks for industrial and food bioproducts
- develop new white and yellow food grade corn lines (inbreds, hybrids) for yield, grain quality and adapted maturity for southwestern Ontario, and conduct genetic studies and mapping for quality-linked traits
- isolate, quantify and characterize digestive enzyme-resistant starches from Ontario corn types (dent, waxy, high amylose) and develop uses for new starches and starch products with high level enzyme-resistance for
food uses as non-caloric ‘fibre-simulants’.