The Feeds Innovation Institute, a cost recovery, public-private commercialization centre within the university's College of Agriculture and Bioresources, works with industry to develop service and research projects in the area of new feed product development.
"FII works with individuals to help them solve problems and increase their company's competitiveness," said Colleen Christensen, executive director of the FII. "We have faculty with expertise in animal nutrition, feed manufacturing, plant breeding and bioprocessing - all of whom can give advice on the development of a new animal feed or processing of feedstock."
"The advantage of having an entity such as the Feeds Innovation Institute is knowing we are servicing both short term and long term research needs of our industry," said Mary Buhr, dean of the College of Agriculture and Bioresources.
"This college has always had a history of working with producers and processors," Buhr said. "We believe that the FII model is a good way to assist industry, while making sure that industry is also aware of the new research and technologies we are developing at the college."
Prior to FII, the U of S operated similar centres: the Feed Testing lab (1967 to1994) and the Prairie Feed Resource Centre (1995 to 2005).
The FII was launched in 2006 with a $257,000 start-up fund from the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture.
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For more information, contact:
Colleen Christensen, College of Agriculture and Bioresources
University of Saskatchewan
(306) 966-4154
colleen.christensen@usask.ca
U of S Feeds Innovation Institute reaches milestone
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - October 2, 2012 2012-10-02-AG Saskatoon - The University of Saskatchewan Feeds Innovation Institute (FII) achieved a significant milestone in August by reaching a total revenue of over $1 million since opening in 2006. All revenue is applied back to salaries or to the costs of using U of S infrastructure.