Canadian Field Crop Research Alliance

What Canadian Field Crop Research Alliance does

The Canadian Field Crop Research Alliance (CFCRA), also operating as ARCCC (Alliance de recherche sur les cultures commerciales du Canada), is a not-for-profit research consortium founded in 2010 and headquartered in Canada. Its mandate is to advance the economic and environmental sustainability of field crops — principally soybean, corn, wheat, barley, and oat — through coordinated, multi-provincial research. The organization aggregates nine provincial farm organizations and industry partners spanning Atlantic, Central, and Western Canada (Atlantic Grains Council, Grain Farmers of Ontario, Manitoba Pulse & Soybean Growers, Prairie Oat Growers Association, FP Genetics, Producteurs de grains du Québec, Manitoba Crop Alliance, Saskatchewan Pulse Growers, and SeCan Association), and executes research through partnerships with AAFC Ottawa, Brandon, and Harrow Research & Development Centres plus CEROM.

The alliance's core technology is applied crop genetics and agronomic research — short-season soybean variety development (maturity groups 000 and 00) for Canadian prairie conditions, climate-smart oat germplasm for three national mega-environments, Sclerotinia resistance screening tools for soybean breeders, molecular markers and corn germplasm conferring resistance to Fusarium/Gibberella, Goss's wilt, and tar spot, and 4R nitrogen management plus cover crop research targeting GHG reduction. Outputs are disseminated as published research reports (e.g., the 2018-2023 CAP Research Report covering 13 projects), biennial Research Summits (2016, 2021), and direct engagement with member organizations.

CFCRA's business model is grant-funded rather than commercial. It receives multi-year program funding from the Government of Canada under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership (CAP) and Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership (SCAP) AgriScience Programs — CAD $4.1 million announced in 2019 and CAD $5.7 million in 2024 — supplemented by member contributions. It sells no products or services; research outputs are made available through publications, reports, and member engagement. Governance is provided by a nine-member Board of Directors representing member organizations, with Jeff Reid (SeCan) as President and Josh Cowan (Grain Farmers of Ontario) as Vice President.

Name

Canadian Field Crop Research Alliance

Legal name

Canadian Field Crop Research Alliance

Website

https://fieldcropresearch.ca

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Short description

The Canadian Field Crop Research Alliance is a not-for-profit research consortium founded in 2010 that coordinates collaborative field crop improvement research — spanning soybean, corn, wheat, barley, and oat — across nine Canadian provincial farm organizations and industry partners, funded primarily through Government of Canada AgriScience Program grants.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Agricultural Research Services

NAICS

Scientific Research and Development Services (5417)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Corporate Foundations & CSR Grantmaking (BPAGAKAC)

Keywords

• Agricultural research
• Field crop breeding
• Crop variety development
• Sustainable agriculture
• Crop genetic improvement

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Government Funding: The organization receives funding from the Government of Canada under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership (CAP) and Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership (SCAP) AgriScience Programs to support research activities.
2. Member Contributions: Provincial farm organizations and industry partners contribute to the research alliance as member organizations.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The Canadian Field Crop Research Alliance (CFCRA) is a not-for-profit research consortium that coordinates and funds collaborative research on the genetic improvement and sustainable production of field crops in Canada, principally soybean, corn, wheat, barley, and oat. It channels Government of Canada AgriScience Program funding through provincial farm organizations and industry partners and operates multi-year research clusters that develop new crop varieties, molecular markers, and agronomic practices for Canadian growing conditions.

Product overview

The Canadian Field Crop Research Alliance (CFCRA) is a not-for-profit research organization that operates as a collaborative research consortium rather than a product company. Its offerings consist of coordinated agricultural research programs focused on soybean, corn, wheat, barley, and oat improvement. The current flagship initiative is the five-year Cropping Systems Cluster (2023-2028), a $10.5 million program comprising five research activities: Activity 4 (Cover Crops & N-Management), Activity 5 (Short Season Soybeans), Activity 6 (Oat Development), Activity 7 (Sclerotinia resistance), and Activity 8 (Corn disease resistance through germplasm improvement). Prior programs included the Soybean Cluster, Oat Project, and Corn Project (2018-2023), as well as the Canadian Field Crop Genetics Improvement Cluster (2013-2018) and Canadian National Wheat Improvement Program.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Cropping Systems Cluster (2023-2028) A five-year coordinated research program under the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership (SCAP) AgriScience Program that supports five research activities covering cover crops and nitrogen management, short-season soybean development, oat variety development, Sclerotinia resistance, and corn disease resistance, aimed at advancing environmental and economic sustainability of Canadian field crop production for member organizations.
• Soybean Cluster (2018-2023) Soybean-focused research cluster covering short-season soybean production, Sclerotinia resistance breeding, and genomic selection tools, delivered under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership (CAP) AgriScience Program for member organizations and the broader soybean value chain.
• Oat Project (2018-2023) Oat research project focused on variety development for Eastern and Western Canada with emphasis on yield improvement, milling quality, disease resistance, and climate-smart traits, delivered under the CAP AgriScience Program for member organizations.
• Corn Project (2018-2023) Corn research project targeting germplasm development with improved resistance to key diseases including Gibberella ear rot, Goss's wilt, and tar spot, delivered under the CAP AgriScience Program for member organizations.
• Canadian Field Crop Genetics Improvement Cluster (2013-2018) Previous research cluster focused on genetic improvement of Canadian field crops, operated from 2013 to 2018 under the Growing Forward 2 (GF2) program.
• Canadian National Wheat Improvement Program (2013-2018) National research program focused on wheat improvement during 2013-2018, summarized in 'The Harvest' research report and delivered under the Growing Forward 2 (GF2) program.

Quantifiable outcome

• 13 research projects completed between 2018-2023 addressing soybean and corn research nationally and oat research in eastern Canada
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers9 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

Feature5 records

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered member and research partner.

• Atlantic Grains CouncilmemberStrategic or Co-development PartnerProvincial farm organization member representing Atlantic Canadian grain producers. Provides governance input and research priorities from the Atlantic region.
• Grain Farmers of OntariomemberStrategic or Co-development PartnerProvincial farm organization member representing Ontario grain farmers. Vice President position on Board of Directors.
• Manitoba Pulse & Soybean GrowersmemberStrategic or Co-development PartnerProvincial organization member representing Manitoba pulse and soybean producers. Contributes to research priorities and governance.
• Prairie Oat Growers AssociationmemberStrategic or Co-development PartnerProvincial organization member representing Canadian prairie oat producers. Currently has a vacant Board position.
• FP GeneticsmemberStrategic or Co-development PartnerSeed company member providing industry perspective on variety development and research priorities. Director Michelle Beaith represents FP Genetics on the Board.
• Producteurs de grains du QuébecmemberStrategic or Co-development PartnerProvincial farm organization member representing Quebec grain producers. Director Salah Zoghlami represents PGQ on the Board.
• Manitoba Crop AlliancememberStrategic or Co-development PartnerProvincial organization member representing Manitoba crop producers. Katherine Stanley serves as Secretary Treasurer on the Board.
• Saskatchewan Pulse GrowersmemberStrategic or Co-development PartnerProvincial organization member representing Saskatchewan pulse crop producers. Director Allison Fletcher represents SPG on the Board.
• SeCan AssociationmemberStrategic or Co-development PartnerSeed company member and major Canadian seed distributor. President Jeff Reid represents SeCan on the Board of Directors.
• AAFC Ottawa Research & Development Centreresearch partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerActivity Lead for Short-Season Soybeans research (Elroy Cober) and Corn Germplasm Development (Aida Kebede). Government research facility providing scientific expertise.
• AAFC Brandon Research & Development Centreresearch partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerActivity Lead for Oat Development research (Kirby Nilsen). Government research facility providing scientific expertise for Western Canadian oat breeding.
• AAFC Harrow Research & Development Centreresearch partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerActivity Lead for Cover Crops and 4R Strategies research (Craig Drury). Government research facility providing scientific expertise for nitrogen management research.
• CÉROMresearch partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerActivity Lead for Sclerotinia Resistance research (Tanya Copley). Quebec-based agricultural research center providing scientific expertise for soybean disease resistance.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• CropLife Canada: CropLife Canada is the national trade association representing the plant science industry. It is comparable as a national nonprofit agricultural industry body, but operates more broadly across crop protection, biotechnology, and digital agriculture rather than focusing on field crop genetic improvement like CFCRA.
• Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC): AAFC is the federal department whose research centres (Ottawa, Brandon, Harrow) actually perform the scientific work behind CFCRA's research clusters. It is the upstream research provider and a co-funder, representing a comparable but much larger and more established entity operating in the same Canadian crop R&D space.

Direct peers

• Canola Council of Canada: Canola Council is an industry association funding canola research and market development. It is comparable in structure (member-funded, research-coordinating nonprofit serving Canadian crop producers) and shares CFCRA's model of pooled farmer levies and government program participation.
• Cereals Canada: Cereals Canada is a national nonprofit that supports the Canadian cereal value chain through research, market development, and stakeholder coordination. It overlaps with CFCRA on wheat and barley research priorities and shares the multi-stakeholder member-driven model.
• Canadian Wheat Alliance: The Canadian Wheat Alliance was a public-private research collaboration focused on improving wheat varieties for Canadian growing conditions. It is comparable as a Canadian wheat research consortium using similar multi-institutional and government-funded models.
• Pulse Canada: Pulse Canada is a national industry association that funds and coordinates pulse crop (pea, lentil, chickpea) research and market development. Highly comparable as a nonprofit research coordinator representing Canadian pulse growers, with similar member-organization structure and government partnership model.
• Western Grains Research Foundation: WGRF is a farmer-funded nonprofit that invests in crop research for western Canadian field crops. It is the most direct peer — both are levy-funded research organizations coordinating field crop R&D on behalf of Canadian farmers, with overlapping crop portfolios (wheat, barley, corn) and similar Government of Canada co-funding structures.

Emerging players

• SeCan Association: SeCan is Canada's largest seed distributor and a CFCRA member. It is comparable as a Canadian-focused seed business that commercializes crop varieties developed in part through CFCRA research, sitting at the interface between nonprofit research and commercial seed distribution.
• Grain Farmers of Ontario: Grain Farmers of Ontario is a CFCRA member and a provincial crop commodity organization representing Ontario grain and oilseed farmers. Comparable as a levy-collecting, member-funded organization with its own research investment priorities, overlapping with CFCRA's mandate on a provincial scale.

Regional players

• Soybean Research Database / North Central Soybean Research Program: NCSRP is a U.S.-based soybean research funding program coordinating multi-state soybean research. It is a close functional analog to CFCRA's Soybean Cluster activities, applying the same levy-funded multi-institutional model to soybean genetic improvement — but serving U.S. rather than Canadian geography.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Canadian Field Crop Research Alliance