Government of Canada Invests in New Opportunities for Biofuels and Livestock Sector

January 26, 2009

Ottawa – Ted Menzies, Member of Parliament for Macleod and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance, is pleased to announce that the Government of Canada is creating new economic opportunities in rural Canada by investing $6 million in the Feed Opportunities from the BioFuels Industries (FOBI) research network that will work to develop and harness new market opportunities in the ethanol and livestock sectors.

“This is another positive step by our government, and during these difficult economic times, farmers will benefit greatly from these funds which will enable them to access new and value-added markets,” said Mr. Menzies.

Led by the University of Saskatchewan, the FOBI network is a multidisciplinary initiative composed of private, public and academic members from the University of Alberta, the University of Calgary, Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development, Feedlot Healh Management Services Ltd., Prairie Swine Centre Inc. and the Saskatchewan Research Council. The FOBI network will focus on creating higher quality livestock feed from ethanol waste, also known as co-products or distillers grains. The research will explore the integration of livestock production and wheat-based ethanol production, and focus on creating new coproducts and new markets for existing co-products and Canadian farmers.

Funding for this project is being provided through Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Agricultural Bioproducts Innovation Program (ABIP), a federal funding program designed to integrate Canada’s talent from universities, industry and government in order to stimulate creativity, leverage resources, reduce costs and accelerate progress towards commercialization of bioproducts and bioprocesses.

For additional information about ABIP, please visit www.agr.gc.ca/abip