Olds College Field Crop Development Centre five year strategic plan

Olds College and the Field Crop Development Centre

Since 1973, the Lacombe Field Crop Development Centre (FCDC) has been breeding and providing superior cereal varieties for the western Canadian market and beyond. Currently, the FCDC is involved in breeding barley for the malt market as well as barley and triticale for the feed and forage markets. Ideally situated for breeding barley and triticale, the land base encompasses 480 acres at the Lacombe site with additional testing locations in the black and dark brown soil zones in Alberta, plus winter nurseries in California. Currently, an expansion of sites for adaptation trials is underway. The breeding programs are supported by the plant pathology, biotechnology and quality laboratories as well as the operations team. A total of 22 staff are employed at the FCDC.

In January 2021, the operations of the FCDC were transferred from the Government of Alberta to Olds College.

Following this transfer, the development of a new five-year strategy for the FCDC was undertaken in 2021, led by a steering committee of 10 members representing the diversity of the value chains. Their input, along with 41 other stakeholder interviews provided a strong base of information to identify the key drivers for development as part of the strategy.

The identified key drivers are as follows:

  1. Be externally facing with a measurable impact on the sector
  2. Be market responsive
  3. Expand service delivery
  4. Increase funding by 25 per cent through diversification of revenue sources
  5. Create a high-performance organisational culture
  6. Be recognised for scientific expertise and outcomes

The new strategy ensures the activities at the FCDC are aligned with the needs of producers and the value chain, clearly identifies the focus of the program and aligns outcomes with the strategy.

This strategy has been published, as well as shared with many stakeholders and organisations, and can be viewed at oldscollege.ca.

This strategic plan is only the first step. Teams at the FCDC have developed their business plans, based on these key drivers, to deliver this strategy. Each team, in consultation with many others, has critically evaluated their activities, defined key actions and the measures necessary to evaluate their progress. In this way the station will move forward, carefully aligned on the shared strategy with the support and new collaborative opportunities with Olds College to continue delivering improved barley and triticale varieties for the market.

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