A key funding announcement yesterday for Saskatoon-based Ag-West Bio.

Federal Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay and Provincial Ag Minister Lyle Stewart announced a total of $8.5 million dollars in renewed funding through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership.

Stewart notes that since its inception in 1989, Ag-West Bio has played a significant role in the province’s bioscience innovation cluster.

"They deserve some of the credit, a fair bit of the credit, I think for developing the AG research cluster that's sprung up around the University of Saskatchewan," he said. "Since then you know they provide support for the cluster to grow through networking activities, they've invested millions of dollars in projects leveraging close to $300 million over the past number of years."

The $8.5 million dollars in funding will be delivered over the next 5 years.

Stewart says the investment demonstrates how agriculture research is a priority for the government, adding this works toward our goal of making Saskatchewan a world leader in biosciences.

"You know we do the third, or over a third of all the AG Bioresearch in Canada in that cluster now and that's a far cry from what it was in 1989."

Ag-West Bio will use the funding to provide a range of essential services for the agriculture community, including advocacy and advice; financing and business attraction; and networking and educational events.