RDAR

What RDAR does

RDAR (Results Driven Agriculture Research) is an arm's-length non-profit organization established by the Government of Alberta in March 2020 to fund producer-driven agricultural research across the province. RDAR operates as a research funding body rather than a traditional product company: it receives government funding (a $370 million, 10-year Alberta government pledge starting in 2020, plus federal flows through the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership and the On-Farm Climate Action Fund) and redistributes it as competitive grants to Alberta producers, researchers, and industry partners. Its core programs include Research Calls (the original competitive funding pipeline), OFCAF (On-Farm Climate Action Fund for nitrogen management, cover cropping, and rotational grazing best management practices), PREP (Producer Research and Evaluation Project providing up to $20,000 per producer for on-farm trials), and the Agriculture Funding Consortium (a coordinated multi-organization research funding body). All programs are administered through ARGO, a SmartSimple-based online grant management portal that handles application submission, expert review, and grant agreement processing.

By 2023, RDAR had invested $74 million across 315 projects with a total portfolio value of $195 million when including 3.2x leverage from public and private partners, and 55% of funded projects were reported to reach the farm within three years. The organization maintains a distributed remote workforce of 11-50 employees across Alberta (headquartered in Edmonton, with staff in Calgary, Camrose, Westlock, and Red Deer), structured around functional areas including research program management (Crops, Livestock, Value Added), grant administration, finance, and communications. RDAR supports dissemination through The Final Mile Podcast (produced with RealAgriculture), its website and newsletter, and an annual Round-Up event (fifth edition held June 17, 2026 in Cremona) featuring a Knowledge Hub with university, industry association, and technology partners.

RDAR's business model is grant intermediation: it does not sell products or services, has no disclosed revenue, and operates as a non-profit under the laws of Alberta and Canada. Its growth depends on continued government appropriations and the success of federally delivered programs such as OFCAF — the 2026 OFCAF cycle saw 900+ applications requesting over $21.2 million against $17.2 million available, prompting a temporary application pause and signaling significant unmet demand.

Name

RDAR

Legal name

Results Driven Agriculture Research

Website

https://rdar.ca

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

RDAR (Results Driven Agriculture Research) is an Alberta government-funded non-profit that distributes competitive research grants to provincial producers, researchers, and industry partners through programs like OFCAF, PREP, and the Agriculture Funding Consortium, administered via its ARGO online portal.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Agricultural Research Funding

NAICS

Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321), Support Activities for Agriculture and Forestry (115)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Results-Based Financing (RBF) & Performance-Based Grants (BPADAOAF)

akta.pro secondary industry

Climate Finance, Carbon Markets & MRV Systems (BPADALAB)

Keywords

• Agricultural research funding
• Grant administration services
• On-farm research programs
• Climate action funding
• Producer-driven research

Headquarters

HQ city

Edmonton

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Research Grant Funding: RDAR is a not-for-profit organization that does not generate revenue from products or services. It receives government funding from the Government of Canada and Government of Alberta through the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership, and distributes this funding as grants to agricultural research projects. RDAR was allocated $370 million over 10 years from the Alberta government in 2020.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

RDAR (Results Driven Agriculture Research) is an arm's-length not-for-profit organization that funds producer-driven agricultural research in Alberta. It administers three primary funding programs—OFCAF (On-Farm Climate Action Fund), PREP (Producer Research and Evaluation Project), and AFC (Agriculture Funding Consortium)—through its ARGO online grant management platform. RDAR receives government funding from Alberta ($370M over 10 years) and Canada (Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership) and redistributes these funds as competitive grants to researchers, producers, and industry partners.

Product overview

RDAR (Results Driven Agriculture Research) is a not-for-profit organization that functions as a research funding organization rather than a traditional product company. RDAR's core offerings are three agricultural funding programs: OFCAF (On-Farm Climate Action Fund), which provides financial support for beneficial management practices; PREP (Producer Research and Evaluation Project), which funds on-farm research trials; and AFC (Agriculture Funding Consortium), which coordinates multi-organization research funding. These programs are administered through RDAR's ARGO grant management platform. Additionally, RDAR operates The Final Mile Podcast for research dissemination and hosts the annual Round-Up event. The organization does not develop or sell proprietary technology products; rather, it funds and supports agricultural research projects conducted by universities, research associations, and producers across Alberta.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• OFCAF (On-Farm Climate Action Fund)

Quantifiable outcome

• 55% of funded projects reach the farm within 3 years
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability4 records

Partnerships

16 partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Whole LeafminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 22 April 2025RDAR awarded funding to Whole Leaf, a Coaldale, Alberta lettuce grower, for research into advanced biological and water treatment strategies to improve plant and root health. The research aims to enhance year-round produce quality and supports Alberta's leadership in controlled environment agriculture. Whole Leaf is the sole lettuce supplier for Wendy's in Canada.
• Alberta MilkcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOngoing support from RDAR and Alberta Milk for phage therapy research focused on genetically engineering phages to eliminate resistance mechanisms, improve biocontainment, and better understand phage persistence for Johne's disease prevention in dairy calves.
• SARDA Ag Research AssociationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSARDA Ag Research Association led multi-year RDAR-funded research project evaluating herbicide options for controlling annual bluegrass in creeping red fescue seed production fields in the Peace Region.
• RealAgriculturecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPodcast production partnership for The Final Mile, a six-part podcast series featuring leading industry voices on agricultural research impacts and farm-ready innovations.
• Agriculture and Agri-Food CanadacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFederal government funder of the On-Farm Climate Action Fund (OFCAF), with RDAR selected as one of 12 national delivery partners to distribute funds associated with this program in Alberta.
• University of Calgary Faculty of Veterinary MedicinecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKnowledge Hub partner at Round-Up 2026, presenting on livestock diagnostics, disease surveillance, and tracking technologies for beef cattle.
• Olds College of Agriculture & TechnologycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKnowledge Hub partner presenting on evaluating virtual fencing in adaptive grazing systems, with applied research on eShepherd systems vs conventional electric fencing.
• Farm Credit CanadacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKnowledge Hub partner featuring FCC's generative AI tool 'Root' for Canadian agriculture and food industry, and AgExpert innovation specialists.
• Canola Council of CanadacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKnowledge Hub partner demonstrating CanolaChat AI-powered agronomy interface for canola growers and agronomists.
• Beef Cattle Research CouncilcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKnowledge Hub partner showcasing CowBytes Ration-Balancing Software upgrades and online platform transition.
• Alberta Pulse GrowerscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKnowledge Hub partner presenting on SIM Training for Microcredentialling in pulse production management.
• University of AlbertacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKnowledge Hub partner presenting Livestock Gentec research on genomic tools for beef industry and thermoresilience in beef cattle.
• Genome AlbertacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKnowledge Hub partner launching Agriculture Metadata Commons - a centralized hub for omics data and metadata for the agriculture sector.
• Western Crop InnovationscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKnowledge Hub partner showcasing barley and triticale varieties and innovations in seed development for Alberta agriculture.
• Gallagher eShepherdcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKnowledge Hub partner showcasing virtual fencing technology using solar-powered GPS-enabled livestock neckbands for precision grazing.
• Foothills Forage & Grazing AssociationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerKnowledge Hub partner addressing issues and innovations for forage and livestock producers in south central Alberta.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Regional players

• Saskatchewan Cattlemen's Association: Producer-funded provincial organization that invests check-off revenue into Saskatchewan-relevant cattle research. Comparable as a regional, producer-funded research investment body in the broader Western Canadian cattle sector.

Direct peers

• Genome Alberta: Alberta-based non-profit funding genomics and molecular research with agricultural applications. Comparable as an Alberta-focused research funding organization with overlapping producer-relevant biotech portfolio; already an active RDAR Knowledge Hub partner.
• Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research: US-based non-profit that funds agricultural research through public-private partnerships. Closely comparable as an arm's-length research funding body that channels government and partner capital to producer-relevant research with similar translation-to-farm mandates.
• Beef Cattle Research Council: Canadian beef industry research funding body financed by producer check-off. Comparable as a commodity-specific producer-funded research investment organization; RDAR is already a Knowledge Hub partner, indicating direct collaboration.
• Western Grains Research Foundation: Saskatchewan-based farmer-funded non-profit that invests producer check-off dollars into crop research. Comparable as a producer-funded research investment organization in Western Canada, operating under similar translational research and farm-adoption mandates.

Broad incumbents

• Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada: Federal Canadian department that funds and conducts agricultural research nationally. Comparable as a major public funder of agriculture research, though it operates federally and across all provinces rather than being arm's-length and Alberta-specific.
• CGIAR: Global agricultural research partnership funding international food system innovation. Comparable as a multi-donor agricultural research funding consortium, though operating globally rather than regionally.
• Alberta Innovates: Alberta's provincially-funded research and innovation corporation with a broader technology mandate that includes agriculture. Comparable as an Alberta-based public research funding body, though it covers multiple sectors beyond agriculture.

Others

• Farm Credit Canada: Canadian federal Crown corporation providing agriculture and food sector financing, including the AI tool 'Root'. Comparable as a federal partner organization supporting Canadian agriculture, though its core mandate is lending rather than research funding; already an RDAR Knowledge Hub partner.

Emerging players

• Canola Council of Canada: National commodity organization funding canola-specific R&D and agronomy tools (e.g., CanolaChat AI). Comparable as an industry-funded research and innovation body for Canadian agriculture; already an RDAR Knowledge Hub partner.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/results+driven+agricultural+research
• Xx.com/rdaralberta
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/results-driven-agriculture-research

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles14 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments1 record

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about RDAR