There's a new owner of the the Crop Diversification Centre - South (CDC) near Brooks, Alberta.

The County of Newell is the new leaseholder for the research facility and fields after securing a ten-year lease from Alberta Infrastructure and they have wasted no time in hitting the ground running.

This is one unique example of the evolving agriculture research landscape in Alberta, after the province decided to divest itself of many agriculture research projects in 2020.

County of Newell Director of Agricultural Services Todd Green speaks on the potential for success this project has for the region.   

"We saw a relatively underutilized facility, and an economic development opportunity, and we think there's value in having management of this facility be local. We're able to be very nimble in our decision-making abilities and our use of the facility," says Green. 

Green says they are now busy upgrading facilities with an arbitrary deadline of September 1st, when they will welcome in tenants.   

“We have some wonderful partners already on board, people utilizing the Ag research lands. We have people that are interested in utilizing other facilities. We just need to inject a little capital funding into them to bring them up to 2025 standards.”