Dairy Research Cluster

In 2010, the Canadian Dairy Comission (CDC) partnered with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and Dairy Farmers of Canada (DFC) to fund a dairy research cluster. Forty-eight projects on the role of dairy products as key components of cardiovascular health, their impact on healthy weight and body composition, and their role in optimal nutrition, development and maintenance were completed, as well as studies on the environmental footprint of the dairy sector in Canada. From January 2010 to March 2013, the CDC contributed $1,435,915 to the dairy research cluster, supporting the work of over 100 scientists and 143 students and professionals in universities and institutions accross Canada.

The second Dairy Research Cluster was launched in 2013 and builds on these results, with a bigger investment. DFC will invest $5.3 million in addition to the $13.75 million announced by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. It ocuses on three research priorities: sustainable milk production, human nutrition and health, and dairy genetics and genomics. The Canadian Dairy Network will invest $669,000 and the CDC $750,000, bringing the total to $20.5 million in funding to address the industry’s research priorities from 2013 to 2018. There are 27 research activities financed through this program involving more than 100 scientists and 65 graduate students working in 15 Canadian universities and eight federal research centres.